Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 91-84 loss to the Celtics in Boston Friday night:
1. There’s no question that some of Friday’s loss is simply a case of bad luck. The Nets had a ton of wide-open looks from behind the 3-point arc and missed basically all of them, finishing up 4-for-30 from deep.
But regardless of that, this was one that got away, and one that pretty much everyone on the roster admitted hurt to let slip afterward. No, the Nets weren’t going to win the rest of their games, but the Celtics had lost seven of eight coming into Friday’s game, including getting destroyed in their previous game — also at home — by Golden State.
The Nets are about to head into their most difficult remaining stretch of the season, with Sunday’s game at home against the Kings followed by a home game Monday against Toronto, games in Miami Wednesday and Washington Saturday and then Phoenix at home the following Monday, as four of their final seven games against teams over .500 come in a space of eight days. Then there’s the fact the Nets just, in essence, gave back one of their two quality wins earlier this week, when they knocked off the Bulls and Grizzlies at home.
One loss to any team is not the end of the world, but it’s one that, as Joe Johnson said, the Nets will be thinking about come April if they come up a game short in the Atlantic Division, or for a more preferable playoff spot.
2. Once again, the Nets saw Marcus Thornton’s game can wildly swing from one end of the spectrum to the other from one game to the next. After scoring 15 straight points in the second quarter and finishing with 20 off the bench in Wednesday’s win over Memphis, Thornton was awful in this one. He finished the game 1-for-9 from the field (his lone make was a layup) and 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
If Alan Anderson could make anything, it’s likely this would become a more serious battle for playing time. But unless Thornton really falls off the deep end, it seems like Nets coach Jason Kidd is going to give him a chance to establish himself as a threat.
3. Speaking of players struggling from 3-point range, Mirza Teletovic has been off for some time now. After making at least one 3-pointer in 17 straight games from Christmas Day through the end of January — shooting 43.7 percent (45-for-103) in the process — Teletovic has fallen off sharply since the beginning of February.
Over the last few weeks, Teletovic has shot just 21-for-73 (28.8 percent) from 3-point range over his last 16 games, and he didn’t play at all in the second half against the Celtics.
Because the Nets are playing small, they don’t really have another option to play instead of Teletovic besides either playing Paul Pierce more, which they don’t want to do, or playing Andray Blatche alongside Mason
Plumlee or Jason Collins, something they have shown little or no inclination to do unless they’re playing a huge team, so they really need Teletovic to get back to knocking down shots like he was previously.