Nets hold on in huge victory over Denver

Brooklyn Nets

Nets hold on in huge victory over Denver

February 8, 2019

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The Nets banked a massive win against the Nuggets last night. Entering the game, Brooklyn had been on a three game losing streak, and was in the middle of a very difficult stretch of their schedule.

Brooklyn fell behind early. Just over six minutes into the game Denver had opened up a 13 point lead. At the conclusion of the third quarter, the Nets had pulled ahead by 21 points.

Denver mounted a fierce comeback in the final frame. Outscoring the Nets 43-27 in the 4th, the Nuggets got as close as within 4 points, and eventually lost by 5. The win pushed Brooklyn back to two games above .500, and now have a 91% chance of making the playoffs.

Observations

1. Switch and Bomb

One area of this game that killed Denver was when their center would switch onto a guard. The Nets guard’s had a Trae-Young-at-Oklahoma green light to fire away if a big switched onto them, or picked them up in transition, from beyond the arc. Oddly enough, the Nuggets did not adjust their strategy during the game. As a result, Brooklyn just kept letting it fly.

2. 3’Angelo Russell

Russell was absolutely feeling it from beyond the arc last night. He hit 6 of his 9 three-point attempts, and was shooting with no hesitation. It didn’t matter who was guarding him or how close/good the contest was, he was letting it fly and killing the Nuggets.

Russell is now up to 37.4% from deep on the year, which would be his best mark for a season should it hold. Fittingly, Russell is posting the best perimeter shooting grade of his career, per our grading system.

Russell has been on fire from distance over the past month. Since January 4th, Russell has hit 43.2% of his threes on 141 attempts. This is the shooter we all wanted Russell to be coming out of Ohio State.

It’s possible this is Russell’s new reality despite the small sample size. Russell is taking the largest amount of threes per game in his career, hoisting 7.2 per contest. Russell is also hitting 81.8% of his free throws this season, a significant improvement over his 76.6% career mark. Regression at the line seems likely, as the 81.8% comes over only 110 attempts. Regardless, these developments are highly encouraging.

3. Joe Harris is Ridiculous, Vol. 1 Million

Joe Harris is ridiculous. Last night was further confirmation of this. Once again, Harris shows an elite catch and shoot ability, especially moving to his right as a right handed individual.

Harris has also continued to flash his improved driving game, exhibiting athletic finishes and crafty maneuvering through traffic.

Questions

1. Have You Ever Seen a Euro-Step Dime?

Seriously though, have you ever seen a euro-step dime? Well, if you haven’t, Shabazz Napier was happy to provide you with your first ever look at such a move.

Goodness that is beautiful. Napier didn’t stop there either. He continued to drop dimes throughout the game, including holding three defender’s attention to effectively put the game away.

2. Can The Nets Bank Wins Before the Break?

Brooklyn has three games remaining before the All-Star break; hosting Chicago, at Toronto, and at Cleveland. Can the Nets make sure they win the two games against the Bulls and the Cavs?

After the break the Nets next six games are hosting Portland, at Charlotte, hosting San Antonio, hosting Washington, hosting Charlotte, and at Miami. All of those are either good teams or teams in direct competition with Brooklyn for playoff seeding.

Brooklyn has moved into the class of teams that is expected to win games against the bottom dwellers of the league. Banking wins against Chicago and Cleveland before the All-Star break will be big ahead of the stretch run of the season.

Prediction

Joe Harris will win the 3-point contest.

Joe Harris bildiğin "Ben buradan gözüm kapalı atarım." demiş… ?‍♂️? (via @WorldWideWob) pic.twitter.com/2vbsgg7Oz7

— TrendBasket (@TrendBasket) January 8, 2019

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