MEMPHIS — The Nets’ debacle has gone from horrific to historic.
Whether it was Jacque Vaughn or Kevin Ollie, it didn’t matter at all. The result is the same: ugly. Still ugly.
The Nets were dragged into Monday’s game, and the Grizzlies have lost seven of their last eight games, with an increasingly lopsided lead.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last three losses were by a combined 93 points, making it the worst three-game regular season span in NBA history (including those that spanned a season).
It’s a long history.
It wasn’t the 12-70 debacle of 2009-10 with three different coaches.
In 11 different NBA campaigns, they never finished last in their division or conference.
Never before have they lost so many games in a row by an astonishing average margin of 31 points.
There are bound to be a lot of problems to dig that deep.
But the biggest players are clearly on the offensive side of the court.
And while Ollie has tried to scale back the situation and make things easier for the beleaguered players since replacing Bourne, it hasn’t helped so far.
“Coach has kept it simple for us. We’ve been playing a certain way for a while, so he makes sure we don’t change handles,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “So, he just…made it easy for us. So I don’t think it’s the set’s fault, it’s just not hitting the shots. We need to figure that out. there is.”
The slump in the offensive line that lasted two months has resolved itself in the last few games.
Brooklyn’s 50-point win in Boston not only ended the first half of the season nominally, but also ended Vaughn’s tenure. Oly’s government got off to a tough start.
In his debut as an interim, the Nets shot just .413 overall in a 28-point loss to Toronto, with 11 of 37 coming from behind the basket.
Their turnovers and long misses resulted in an easy runout for the Raptors, who scored an astounding 46 transition points.
In fact, Ollie’s Nets showed even more fight against Minnesota.
But against the best defense in the league, Brookin’s offense was so bad it didn’t matter.
The Nets mustered just .337 percent shooting, making 6-of-35 from deep, which looked like a misprint.
In fact, it was just a bunch of missed shots.
Both of their shooting percentages are the worst this season, and their 86 points are the second-fewest.
“We’re still figuring out each other’s strengths,” Ollie said. “The ball…I thought we missed a lot of shots. We got some good looks. The offense got some great looks. I mean, [Cam Johnson] We had some mistakes, but perfect plays and perfect ball movement, peel and play, that’s exactly what we want.
“So we’ve got to make sure we make those shots and then I think things will get better. But I thought our performance (against Minnesota) wasn’t bad and I thought we improved from the Toronto game. If you watch the game, there were times when shots from wide open shots were missed.”
Mikal Bridges shot just 7 of 21 for Minnesota and 1 of 11 from deep.
Johnson went 2-of-9 from the floor, giving the Nets an unbeatable attempt and the shooting profile they wanted, but they couldn’t buy the basket.
“Yes, it looks better too. I was just talking to Mikal right now and I know he’s upset because he feels like he missed out on some great things,” Finney-Smith said. “So if they give us these shots again, we’ll be in great hands.”
perhaps. Johnson has struggled mightily since being benched at the start of this three-game slump. Brooklyn’s best pure shooter, he averages just 6.7 points on .190 percent shooting, making just 3 of his 16 shots from behind the basket.
“Keep shooting,” Johnson said of his struggles.
Memphis’ defense isn’t as solid as Minnesota’s, which creates opportunities for the Nets, especially Johnson.
But he will need to adapt to a new backup role to give this broken offense a much-needed shot.
“It’s huge. Especially for someone who has been one-sided before, it’s a huge deal,” Ben Simmons said of the adjustment from starting to backup. “But it’s just, it is what it is. It’s a different experience, so you have to embrace it and play the role.”
