3 Takeaways from Nets Weekend Sweep at the hands of the Knicks

One loss had more positives than the other. Collin will tell you which one.

There’s only a handful of teams this year that every Nets fan — even those focused solely on May ping pong balls — at least partially want to see their team win against. With two tries at the same one this past weekend, they came up short on both occasions.

Ironically, Friday evening’s contest vs the Knicks gave the “team tank” Nets fans something they would have been happy with had it come against any other team other than perhaps New York, Boston, or Philly: a near-win in which Brooklyn’s young players show promise.

Did they ever from Cam Thomas, who lit up the garden yet again with a 40-piece. Still, the Nets fell by a 124-122 final score, as some last second heroics from Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges painted over Dennis Schröder’s.

The Sunday game was like a modern film sequel, adding a few new characters but lacking the same high-end entertainment as its predecessor. Big man Karl Anthony Towns came back to star in this one, but the contest didn’t have anyone biting their nails down the stretch, as the Nets dropped that one by a 104-114 score. Across it all, here are a few things to take away.

Overcoming Bad Dennis Games will be Tough

Outside of his clutch triple down the stretch of Friday’s game, these last two contests from Schröder left a lot to be desired. His performances vs the Knicks came in stark contrast to all his others so far this season. The veteran point guard putting together some of the best box scores of his career gave the Nets a bit of a “feel good” story early in this season. Likely with an abundance of people not wanting to end that, his rough weekend seemed like it was swept under the rug.

I like a “he’s still got it” narrative as much as anyone. But as Mike Tyson would also tell you, this just wasn’t the weekend for that sort of thing.

On Friday and Sunday, it wasn’t the turnover issues that gave Schröder trouble earlier in the year that nerfed his impact this weekend. In fact, Dennis gave up the rock just once between both games, even while facing what the Knicks expect to be a formidable wing defensive duo in Brides and OG Anunoby.

Instead, it was his inability to find nylon. In the shots he created by himself, those off screens, and several of the catch-and-shoot nature, Schröder struggled to put the ball through the net. He shot just 23.5% from the field in that first game and then 18.2% the next. Those clock in as his two lowest marks so far this season.

The simplicity of Schröder’s inefficiency also makes it a rather boring thing to take away and/or analyze. He didn’t put up bad shots, they just frankly, and unremarkably, just didn’t go in.

There’s no big fix to that in this writer’s eyes. Instead, let this be a reminder that for as much as people talk about the Nets living and dying by Cam Thomas, their second leading scorer hitting shots to stretch the floor and being an efficient creator is vital to their and his success.

One Glaring Weakness

If the Nets actually prefer to tank this year right out of the gates, maintaining the status quo at the center position is a good way to start.

That’s not to cast any blame toward the Nets or the injured Nic Claxton or Day’Ron Sharpe. Both of Brooklyn’s bigs taking early bites from the injury bug that overlap with each other is rotten luck more than anything else. Nonetheless, the Nets will have an incredibly difficult time stealing wins if they stay thin down low.

Look at me, telling you that you need a center on your roster to win in the NBA. Surely you’re thinking “Wow, this guy knows ball,” right now.

But while it doesn’t take a genius to understand that it’s not smart for the Nets to go on without their starting or backup bigs, it was the most glaring truth from this weekend and therefore deserves some mentioning.

For starters, the Nets were a collective -20 on the boards in both games. The Knicks also outscored Brooklyn in the paint 96-52. You can chalk one of those games up to them carrying a top offensive center in the league, but the first one saw the Nets get rocked inside by just about everyone, including a guy who made his NBA debut less than a month ago.

Brooklyn was concentrated on taking a large amount of three-point attempts going into the season. They’ll likely continue to do so whenever Claxton or Sharpe come back. Nonetheless, they shot better from three than the Knicks in both these games — yet still lost. It’s clear what was missing and what led to each loss.

Passing Prowess

Who wants to talk about how high your assist percentage was after a loss? Probably not most basketball fans. But Brooklyn Nets fans are not “most basketball fans,” not this year. If anyone can do it, it’s the ones rooting for player development rather than anything else — perhaps even more than wins right now.

So with that said, it should be known that Brooklyn dished out 27 assists on 39 made shots in their first try vs the Knicks. Not too shabby, but nothing compared to what they’d do two days later.

On Sunday, Brooklyn put on a historic passing performance, tallying 31 assists on 32 made field goals. That gave them a 96.9% assist percentage — their highest in a single game in franchise history and the highest for any team in any game since 2001.

Now, the Nets also shot just north of 42% from the field that game and barely made it to triple digits. It was by no means an offensive showcase and shouldn’t be treated as such.

However, what it can be is another positive nod toward Jordi Fernández. It’s been quite clear to the naked eye this season that Fernández is far more creative in the schemes and sets he creates to get the Nets buckets compared to past coaches. The numbers are now starting to back that, as you’ll find no better example of a fluid, team offense than one that creates nearly all of its looks after another player sets the table first.