National Basketball Association

When focused, as they were in Game 4 vs. the Celtics, Nets appear ready for Bucks

Published May. 31, 2021 1:37 a.m. ET

By Yaron Weitzman
FOX Sports NBA Writer

It’d be easy to write off the Brooklyn Nets’ 141-126 Game 4 shellacking – on the road no less – of the Boston Celtics as just another blowout win from an overwhelming team over an overmatched opponent. And there’s certainly something to that.

The Nets – who now own a 3-1 series lead, with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday in Brooklyn – have three All-NBA-level players. The Celtics, with Jaylen Brown done for the season and Kemba Walker sidelined with a knee injury, are down to one. This was a game the Nets were supposed to win.

The thing with these Nets, though, is that while they didn’t lose many games during the regular season, a good chunk of the ones they did came to teams they were supposed to beat. It’s what happened in Game 3, when they allowed Jayson Tatum to light them up for 50 points and the undermanned Celtics to steal a game.

"Our team, traditionally, hasn't done well when guys (on opposing teams) are scratched," head coach Steve Nash said during a Zoom press conference with reporters prior to Game 4. "So it’s important for us to really have that focus and overcome that kind of, you know, that mental obstacle of not letting your guard down. I assume that wouldn’t be the case when they’re threatening to tie the series, but in any event, we can’t worry about who’s playing for them as much as how we’re going to perform tonight."

It was a revealing comment. Certainly more candid than you typically hear from coaches during the playoffs. And it’s why the Nets’ dominant performance Sunday night, despite coming over an inferior opponent, was both meaningful and telling.

After a circus of season, one featuring a mega trade and mega personalities and mid-season signings and mid-season retirements and lineup changes and myriad injuries and limited practice time, the Nets look to have found their footing. And just in time, too. Because waiting for them in the second round – and, yes, we’re going to go ahead and write the Nets into the second round – is a Milwaukee Bucks juggernaut that just embarrassed the reigning Eastern Conference champions and just might be the team best-equipped to take the Nets out.

By now, we know the Nets’ formula: score, score and score some more. Their Big 3 is unlike any the NBA has ever seen. In Kevin Durant and James Harden, they have two of the greatest offensive players in the history of the game. Having a creator like Kyrie Irving as a third option is unprecedented.

This is how the Nets’ torched the Celtics Sunday night. Harden, in the role of point guard, dished out 18 assists to go along with 23 points. Durant racked up 42 points on just 20 shots. Irving, while picking his spots, dropped 39 points.

"When Ky’s aggressive like that, nobody can guard him," Harden said.

Joe Harris, who’s led the NBA in 3-point shooting in two of the past three seasons, drilled four of his five looks from deep.

And while their defense remains leaky – they owned the league’s eighth-worst unit during the regular season, and have played even worse so far in the playoffs – their explosive offense changes the math. Sure, stops are nice. But taking care of the ball and limiting second chances might just be more important.

Think of it like this: No opponent is going to match the Nets’ scoring output unless they get extra possessions in shots. The Nets know this, too. Late in Game 4, TV cameras caught Durant and Irving standing together on the sideline peering at a box score. After the game, Durant was asked what they were looking at.

"Their field goal percentage, how many more shots they got up than us and their offensive rebounds," he said.

The Nets limited the Celtics to 85 shots in Game 4 while attempting 83. You saw the results.

The Bucks, however, will test the Nets in all sorts of new ways. They might be the only team stocked with three players who can make the Nets’ three scorers sweat. Giannis Antetokounmpo just spent a series blanketing Jimmy Butler and will likely be matched up with Durant. Jrue Holiday is a defensive ace, and maybe, given the combination of his size, strength and quickness, the NBA player most capable of making Harden work. And while Khris Middleton won’t blanket Irving, if he’s your third-best perimeter defender then you’re in a good place.

The Bucks also spent the season working on their ability to switch matchups on ball screens – a tactic head coach Mike Budenholzer has avoided in previous seasons – seemingly in preparation for this specific matchup. In this way, they’re the anti-Nets. Sure, they’re talented. But they’re also betting on continuity. Their core three of Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Holiday played 922 minutes together over 50 regular-season games, compared to just 202 minutes over eight games for Harden, Irving and Durant.

And yet, there’s a reason the Nets, between the trade for Harden and cautious management of injuries, approached the regular season the way they did. They knew that the only things that could hold them back would be availability and, as Nash alluded to, focus. The former, for now, appears to be solved. If the latter is as well – as was the case Sunday night – then the rest of the league could be in trouble.

Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports and the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.