Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 108-102 win over the 76ers in Brooklyn Monday night:
1. Jason Kidd was always known as a player with active hands on defense, finishing second all-time to John Stockton with more than 2,600 career steals.
And the Nets are now starting to play defense like their coach did, forcing Philadelphia into committing a ridiculous 26 turnovers – including 15 steals – in Monday’s win.
Kidd was asked after the game whether his top priority for his team’s defense is to hold a team to a low shooting percentage or force turnovers, and he didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“Active hands,” he said. “When you have active hands, deflections, steals, that means everybody is in tune defensively. If deflections are down or steals are down, it pretty much means your opponent is getting what they want, and they’re moving the ball from A to B.
“Look, in this league, you can play great defense and be scored on, but if you can get some deflections and hopefully disrupt their rhythm, hopefully you can get a win.”
It also doesn’t hurt that those deflections and steals can turn into easy runout baskets, which the Nets took advantage of on Monday night.
2. The game also featured a nice bounce-back performance from Deron Williams. After saying his confidence was an issue after Saturday’s loss in Indiana — a game in which he went 3-for-12 from the field and finished with 13 points — Williams was excellent Monday, finishing with 21 points, six assists and no turnovers, expertly slicing through the defense and probably deserving more trips to the foul line than the two attempts he ended the night with.
Before the game, Kidd talked about the need to keep Williams’ confidence high.
“I think for myself or for his teammates, it’s to reassure him that we’re here to help, and that he just has fun with it,” Kidd said. “It’s basketball, and for him to concentrate on playing basketball at a high level and having fun.”
3. Mason Plumlee is the best candidate to receive minutes at backup center when either Kevin Garnett or Andray Blatche misses a game. But in each of the last two games, while Blatche has been sidelined with a bruised left hip, one glaring problem in Plumlee’s game has shown itself: an inability to stay out of foul trouble.
In both games – Saturday against Indiana and Monday against Philadelphia – Plumlee has done good things on the court. But because he hasn’t been able to stay out of early foul trouble early – he picked up four first-half fouls Saturday and three Monday – Kidd has been unable to give Plumlee the minutes he normally would and has had to give Reggie Evans time in his place.
If Plumlee wants to take better advantage of these chances, he has to learn to play defense without fouling so he can stay on the court and the Nets can take advantage of his ability to finish around the basket.