The Nets certainly looked like a team that fired a coach and practiced just twice under new interim coach Kevin O’Ree on Thursday night.
The same flaws were evident in the 121-93 loss to the Raptors, especially as the Nets were outscored 46-7 in that area, failing to convert fast break points.
“They were getting out in transition. They were scoring about 47 points, and it’s hard to win games like that,” Mikal Bridges said after the Nets suffered their 24th loss in their last 32 games. Told. “So we’ve got to get better in transition, but that’s how they play. They play fast, but we did a bad job tonight.”
“Not being able to stop and limit them in half-court situations was a killer for us,” Oley echoed.
This may be an issue the Nets were already expected to improve upon since Ben Simmons returned to the starting lineup. But the numbers don’t show that guards are helping teams keep a fast pace in transition. That was his specialty in the preseason and early season when he was healthy.
Simmons drove the offense through the first six games of the season before being forced to miss 42 games with a hip impingement. The Nets averaged 26.5 points after the break, while their opponents averaged 19.83 points.
In those six games, Brooklyn got the best of each opponent during the hiatus, going 3-3 against Simmons at the beginning of the season.
Similar numbers were seen when he returned from injury against the Jazz on January 29th. The Nets had 28 fast break points to Utah’s 16, but have been on a decline since then.
While Simmons returned to a city that hates him, the Nets scored 15 fast-break points to 29 for the depleted 76ers without Joel Embiid. Following that game and the suspension against the Warriors, Simmons appeared in four consecutive games before the All-Star suspension, missing his final game as a precaution in back-to-back games against Boston.
In those four games and against the Raptors on Thursday night, the Nets averaged just 12.8 points after the break while their opponents averaged 23 points.
“Turning the ball over. Too many turnovers. Not coming back. … We just have to take more pride in our defense,” Simmons said of the stats after the loss.
“Just pride. It doesn’t matter who’s coaching the team or what the plan is. … We’ve got to get back. This team is one of the best at going out and running. “One,” he added.
According to team rankings, the Raptors are the best team in the league in points pace. Toronto is averaging 18.5 points this season and has come away with an average of 32.7 points in its last three games. The Nets’ inability to stop them or keep up with them in the half court definitely contributed to that number.
In comparison, the Nets rank 14th in the league, averaging 14.3 fast-break points per game and averaging nine points in their last three meetings.
Aside from diagnosing Simmons’ “pride” as part of the problem behind the numbers, Cam Thomas blamed the large deficit on 20 turnovers, just 41.3 percent shooting and a little laziness. He pointed out.
“When you get into a live turnover, it’s hard to get it back. I mean, you can preach, ‘Sprint back, sprint back,’ but that’s a lot of turnovers.” …And obviously, some of that stuff you can’t take back, you know, some of it is just sitting back and watching the ball go up after we take the shot. I tend to do it. Sometimes you just sit back and watch, but you have to get better and sprint back and get the ball and let your opponent take the shot. [If] They’re going to take shots at us, but we’re going to hang in there.”
The Nets will face the Timberwolves on Saturday night, a team they last met on Jan. 25 and lost 96-94. In the game without Simmons, both teams were tied with 11 points in transition.
