3 Takeaways from Brooklyn Nets swing and miss at the Phoenix Suns

The Nets are tanking and are hurt, the Suns are disappointing and the result was not pretty (again.)

The first time we ushered Kevin Durant back into the building that he labeled “The ‘Clays” almost five years ago, it was a true welcome home party rather than the timid reunion we got tonight. There was a buzz in the air. A franchise cornerstone was set to return, and the Nets, foolish as they may have been for it, aimed to meet the Suns in terms of their aspirations for the season.

Phoenix was not only chasing a title, but wanted to hammer home the fact that the Slim Reaper now played for them and how much better it made them, having lost their first matchup of the season vs Brooklyn in embarrassing fashion. The Nets wanted to stay afloat in the playoff hunt and prove Mikal Bridges as a not-so-far-off downgrade from KD.

My goodness, what an absolute joke that one was.

After a few months, the Nets eventually figured that out and moved accordingly. When the New York Knicks left the building Tuesday night, it would have been cordial for Sean Marks to slip a thank you note in Leon Rose’s bags.

So, here we stand today, with Durant back again, but with two teams headed in different directions, and both probably better off for it.

Nonetheless, there was a contest to be played. The Nets would do it without Ben Simmons and D’Angelo Russell, making it more of a crawl through the mud than anything. Here’s what we dug up.

The Offensive is Still a Rough Watch

Welcome to another episode of The Nets Didn’t Have a True Facilitator Tonight and it Hurt Them. Once more, Keon Johnson and Tyrese Martin performed as well as anyone could ask of them, but the team’s .374/.194 splits for the night and abundance of possessions that ended with a Jalen Wilson grenade stand out beyond their efforts.

“It’s not easy because I continue to ask them different, different things,” an understanding Fernández said postgame. You’re going to have to bring the ball, you’re going to have to make a play, you have to read the roll. Like all those things, these guys are more than capable of doing it; it’s just they haven’t done it yet at this level. I think it’s great that they get to do it. So, like I said before, this all will help us, because taking steps forward, this is part of the process.”

The 22-year-old Johnson deserves an extra nod with his ability to penetrate the point of attack, which is on the shortlist of hardest things to do at the professional level, even if against the pillow-soft Suns. Keon’s quick stop-and-start abilities, awareness leveraging his space around defenders, and athleticism all served him well tonight on that front.

His handle was tighter than what we’ve seen in past games with him throttled into the point guard role, giving up the rock just once this evening.

Newcomer Reece Beekman had a handful of fair sequences handling the rock. But as far as the youngsters go, Dariq Whitehead stands out as the guy we’d like to see more from. The former first round pick brought a slick shooting stroke to Barclays again tonight, going 3-of-5 from deep.

However, nearly all his makes tonight were via catch-and-shoot opportunities, and the Nets have no shortage of guys there to fill that role. The Nets should continue to have their youngest player take baby steps at the pro level as he continues to come back from shin surgery, but on any nights the Nets go without Simmons and Russell, we’ll long to see him live up to his depth chart designation as a point man.

Problems are Arising in the Paint

It’s one thing to give up 50+ points down low to the New York Knicks, who rank as a top five team in paint scoring. But the Phoenix Suns, who averaged the fewest in the entire NBA? It’s hard to turn the other way when you surrender them xx points, as the Nets did tonight.

With Brooklyn’s swelling injury list coming into this one, almost every number for the night should have an asterisk above it. If you’re blaming Nic Claxton, Keon Johnson, rookies, and two-ways for their inability to stuff the stat sheet, this team might not be for you.

But if anyone’s deserving of some blame, it’s Brooklyn’s paint protectors, as the Nets’ bigs were healthy from top to bottom despite being black and blue everywhere else as Noah Clowney, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Claxton all suited up.

Perhaps it’s all connected. It’s possible the paint was just the ground level for an avalanche that started due to Brooklyn lacking its usual backcourt and wing defenders. We saw New York exploit Brooklyn’s blitzes early and often yesterday to put Sharpe and Claxton in tough spots.

At some point you’d like to stop making excuses, but again with this team and this direction this year, how could you not?

Ugly Nights Have an Established Recipe

The Nets didn’t just lack the personnel to compete at a high-level tonight — but also touch make Phoenix pay on their good looks both near and far from the rim.

This has been a common denominator for almost all of Brooklyn’s blowout losses this year. First, they don’t have all their guys, and then the ones that do, even in their terms don’t quite have “it” that night.

I counted four missed layups tonight for the Nets, though I’m positive I missed a few. While Brooklyn also put up an abundance of low-percentage shots with the clock ticking down, they also hoisted several that might as well have been warmup jumpers.

Tosan Evbuomwan is no efficiency king, but a 2-of-15 night from him is far below what he typically brings to the table. Tyrese Martin, who’s arguably been the team’s most consistent shooter this year, going 1-of-10 from the field? That doesn’t exactly check out either.

This isn’t a secret recipe by any means. Anyone will tell you that missing your top guns, poor offensive construction, and an inability to hit the open ones spell disaster. But for anyone wondering what’s the difference between Brooklyn’s 10-15 point losses and those surpassing 20, this rotten compilation of on-court issues is responsible.