3 Takeaways from Brooklyn Nets wipeout vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

With 56 games to go, Monday’s debacle was a warning of what to expect going forward, maybe not in degree but certainly in substance.

The NBA’s most unlikely kryptonite for upper-echelon basketball teams is beginning to splinter and chip.

Fresh off a stifling 135-119 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, the current two-seed in the mighty Western Conference, the Brooklyn Nets hosted the association’s winningest team Monday — the Cleveland Cavaliers. Like the Grizz, the Cavs wouldn’t let the Nets, nor their seven wins vs teams with a win percentage above .500, intimidate them.

In his first return to the Barclays Center as an opposing head coach, Kenny Atkinson throttled his former employers, with Cleveland beating the Nets 130-101. The contest ended long before the scoreboard indicated, with the Cavs getting up big early and never looking back. Here’s what we learned.

No Dennis Affects the Team Exactly How We Expected

The Nets seemed to be chomping at the bit to trade away Dennis Schröder, but not for the same reasons they’ve dished out their other lead guards in past years. Rather than causing headaches on or off the court, Dennis was menacing Brooklyn’s long-term plans, giving a team that’s prioritized its long-term future over winning this season an offense with way too much functionality.

In short, he was too damn good. That’s why when the trade window opened over the weekend, Brooklyn took only a few hours to put him on a one-way plane headed to Golden State. Opposite coasts, opposite realities. (Good thing he only rented in Red Hook!)

So, how’d the Nets offense look without the central pillar that’s held it up all season? In short, messy and I’m being kind. Brooklyn gave up the rock 20 times tonight, tied for their most in a game this year. At the break, they had as many turnovers as made field goals, with 13.

It wasn’t just the handling of the ball that Brooklyn missed sans Schröder, but also his ability to create. The halfcourt, where we watched Schröder fry guys for 20 games this year, left a lot to be desired tonight, as many of Brooklyn’s possessions ended with a contested shot just prior to the shot clock buzzer. A few thankfully went in, but almost none were looks you knew the Nets wanted to take…

The pick-and-roll vanished, paint touches went down, and the threes felt more like prayers rather than queued-up shots against a stretched out defense. Cam Johnson, Brooklyn’s best deadeye, agreed.

“It’s a little different,” he said of the offense postgame. “We just got to figure it out and kind of re-establish what it is that works and gives us results.”

Sure, this is what the Nets signed up for when they traded Dennis, the Menace and ultimately when they rejiggered their picks back over the summer. It shouldn’t be this ugly every night, but it likely won’t be too pretty going forward either.

Running is Easier Said than Done

Ben Simmons is among the league’s fastest point guards in terms of pace, while Dennis Schröder ranks among the slowest. Jordi Fernández knew that and even cited it pregame when explaining how the team might change with the latter sticking around and the former absent.

“Dennis was bottom 10 or 10th slowest point guard in the NBA,” Fernández said. “Pace doesn’t mean you get better or worse, and Ben is 18th fastest. So, right there is the answer. We’re going to try to play faster. The ball’s going to fly. He’s going to push. He’s going to throw ahead, and you have more opportunities to get those shots early in the clock, the high-quality shots.”

The Nets may have tried — but did not often succeed in that tonight. They only generated 16 points in transition, a few ticks below their average for the season at 19.4 points per game, even with Simmons now getting both his hands on the wheel.

Now, Cleveland, shooting 53.1% from the field and 40.4% from deep, undoubtedly dropped some speed bumps in front of Brooklyn. It’s tough to get down the floor and in front of your opponents when you have to inbound the ball at your own end first.

But that’s also the point here. Just like last season, the Nets cannot solely rely on the break to generate offense because, for one reason or another, it won’t always be an option. Tonight it was because they played the best shooting team in the league.

Ball Pressure Remains Top-Notch

Jordi Fernández has echoed a desire for his team to get in their opponents’ grill all year. Almost a third of the way through the season, it’s still resonating with them as strongly as it did on day one.

Nobody will want to talk about the turnovers Brooklyn forced tonight when their own ball protection was as weak as a wet paper towel. But regardless, the Cavs are only giving it away 13.1 times per game this season. That’s good for the fourth fewest in the league and the Nets beat it, pushing them into 17 giveaways.

It’s not easy to find silver linings in a dark December game where the good guys got blown off their own floor. It’ll be difficult for the Nets to keep hurting teams the way they did earlier in the season now minus Schröder as well, especially on the offensive end. But the ball pressure, if anything, looks here to stay.

And oh yeah, Schroder won’t be last veteran to leave.