With Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden In, Out Of Lineup, Brooklyn Nets Finding the Right Mix

“We have a lot of games in a short period of time and it always looks like someone isn’t available. ”

Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash said last week before a game against Detroit, but he has been relevant in almost every situation in the team’s 2020-2021 season so far since he got James Harden from Houston a month ago.

Whether Durant was wasting time two different times due to health and safety protocols, Irving being out a few weeks on leave or knocking here and there for Harden, Brooklyn has a Big 3 on seven play all games together. That number will remain at seven as Durant misses his second game in a row with a leg injury Tuesday in Phoenix while Irving is out with back stiffness sustained in Monday’s win over Sacramento that improved record. the team to 17-12.

“Of course we would like more continuity, chemistry,” said Nets forward Joe Harris, “where we had a group play games in a row, at least establish a rhythm where we’ve been together for a long time. ”

Brooklyn and almost every other NBA team that has played in such a thick record this season didn’t have that luxury. In the 186 minutes Durant, Harden and Irving have been on the floor together, the Nets have outscored opponents with 39 total points, 9.8 per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. The tricky part is keeping everyone on the floor at the same time. Even harder? Finding lines that work for a Nash rookie head coach that won’t completely miss and miss a game for your team.

“I don’t know if we want to stay away from any compounds for the most part just because we’re slim,” Nash said. “We have put bodies on the floor and sometimes we have to take some risks as far as combos.”

There are amazing moments when all three All-NBA nets have been healthy in their overall work, with Harden leading the second unit while Durant and Irving rest, letting the show down. his one-man reproduction that served him so well in Houston under Mike D’Antoni, now an assistant under Nash in Brooklyn.

“When they’re not in line with him, he should be more aggressive,” Nash said last week. And Harden has more than taken up his role as a top footballer, who is now at the top of the league helping to score the usual beaks of points when asked. “James is aggressive the way we want him to play. Some nights could be 15 points and some nights could be 35 points. ”

And as Harden runs with repositories like Landry Shamet and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and the Nets continue to put up progressive margins, Brooklyn’s best three-man unit has become Durant’s trio, Irving and Harris at +124 in a total of 350 minutes, +16.1 per 100 possessions. But putting groups of players behind that, with guard Tyler Johnson appearing more prominently in the Nash rotation, has been touching.

“You have to be in charge of everyone 1-15, 1-17, whatever it is,” Harris said. “You need to be confident in people who don’t have much of a job now but are ready when their numbers are called and given the opportunity.”

That could now apply to newly named swingmaker Andre Roberson, a former Oklahoma City team player at Durant, who will provide a strong defensive presence on the sidelines. Game design, Harris said, has been focused on the pieces that are available for the next game, not what happens to the superstar that is not available while preparing for opponents. to come.

“It’s about controlling what you can and not letting the outside factors influence the preparation,” Harris said.

The great news is that the Nets have found a line to shut down games that they are happy with. That’s Durant, Harden and Irving along with Harris and Jeff Green.

“I think it’s a line that we’re going to follow down the piece and they’re developing something there,” Nash said. “But how many minutes have they played together over the 25, 30 games? That is something we must continue to improve. “

That group of five is Brooklyn’s most used full-line all season, and they have spent 76 minutes together over seven games, outscoring opponents with a total of 35 best points. .

“It’s early but I think it’s a mix we feel comfortable with down the field,” Nash said.

Now, all the nets just have to keep these players on the court so that Nash and Brooklyn can use the lines they want to use rather than the groups they use have used.