3 Takeaways from the Brooklyn Nets’ Night of Thievery vs Houston

We be streakin’ The Nets won their third straight game and their first at home in 12 tries.

The Brooklyn Nets might have had a familiar partner tonight, but the dance they did with the Houston Rockets was slightly different than the one we saw last time out.

Not only was it on a different floor, but the game’s beat brought the teams far closer to each other on the scoreboard compared to what we saw on Saturday night when Brooklyn kept Houston at arm’s length leading by double digits for the entire second half.

What did they do tonight? Let’s call it a tango, and one that went on for quite a while. Beautiful but exhausting and thanks to the big finish, exhilarating.

In fact, right when it looked like the fun was about to end for this Brooklyn team, which a week ago was lighting up like a Christmas tree on Adam Silver’s tank radar, Keon Johnson and D’Angelo Russell spun up another record, this one some old time rock’n’roll. Brooklyn twisted its way into a third straight win, with the latter’s subzero pulse making its long-awaited return on the floor where he had done it so many times before….

The game, all 48 minutes of it, ended up being the ultimate experience for anyone who’s still reminiscing about the 2018-19 Brooklyn Nets. It was also the ultimate test of resolve for anyone firmly on team-tank. Here’s what we learned through it all.

Physical Play is Sticking Around

Even if winning hasn’t always been at the top of Brooklyn’s agenda this year, making themselves a tough opponent has. You might beat them, but you won’t do so without suffering a few battle scars.

The Nets put that tenacity on full display during their first contest vs the Rockets and brought it back for the sequel tonight. Brooklyn showed no sympathy for Houston playing the second half of a back-to-back, trying to avoid a four-game losing streak, battling for boards, bringing physical ball pressure, and setting tough screens based on my perch along press row…

This eagerness to bump bodies with the Rockets was infused from starters to the bench, and even included Brooklyn’s three two-ways. Tyrese Martin, a guy known more for his talent at the other end of the court, nearly came up with two steals in as many seconds after coming off the bench. He also finished the game with six boards to go with his 10 points…

“We played hard and then the focus was there,” Fernández said postgame. “It wasn’t perfect all the way through, but that’s how we won this.”

After three wins, the Brooklyn Grit stock maybe high right now but our more aggressive tank commanders were neither pleased nor amused, preferring to see the team roll onto its backside each and every night, losing as a foregone conclusion. But once again, it’s clear the guys on the court, of course including Fernández, simply do not give a damn what you think.

Trendon is Slowly Working his Way Back

Cam Thomas being able to miss a month or two of basketball and come back without a speck of rust on him really makes his teammates that do look bad. One more reason why he’s not a winning basketball player, right?

But in all seriousness, his LSU teammate Trendon Watford’s return to the floor has been a rather quiet one over the past three games, including tonight. This evening vs the Rockets, he logged 19 minutes and finished with four points, two assists, and three boards while shooting 2-of-6 from the field.

It’s not a Thomas-like, high-scoring ripper, but that was never Watford’s style either. The do-it-all forward has no shortage of basketball tools on his belt and rarely spams just one. Watford looked for his shot at times tonight, banged down on the block, played as a point-of-attack pest, and even ran the offense to close out the third quarter. Oh yeah, he was banging, too.

The feel plays, however, still look like a work in progress. He got beat on a handful of Houston slashes to the basket. He also mistimed his launch on a drive near the end of that third period, getting nicked with a charge.

That was, until, he started the fourth by bringing back that smooth floater we all fell in love with last year.

No member of this team has been able to give the Nets consistent production this year — injuries-related or otherwise — and it’d be prudent to expect that from Watford as well going forward. After all, he just came back from his second major stint in street clothes this season.

Regardless, we can see he’s headed in the right direction. If you can’t find it in your heart to root for wins this year, at least root for that considering he’ll be a free agent once more this summer.

We Have New, Unsung Winning Formula

First, it was hero-ball from Dennis Schröder, then it was spamming threes and hitting just enough to stay afloat. Now, after three games of winning, the pathway to Brooklyn wins is getting plowed by a blade with “defense” written across it.

It’s fair to say Brooklyn’s effort at the game’s less lustrous side of the floor has been admirable all year. There were a handful of sloppy performances that dragged down their numbers in December and early January, but several of those involved shorthanded Brooklyn units.

In their last two games, which were winning affairs might I remind you, the Net offense posted 49/31 and 49/37 splits. They were okay, but nothing to parade around the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic. Tonight, they were arguably worse, shooting 46.3% from the field and 37.0% from three. D’Angelo Russell? He didn’t even reach double-digits until getting his “officially back” moment. Before Johnson’s equally clutch table-setter, nobody even had 20 for the night.

Once more, and in harmony with my first takeaway, it was suffocating, stingy, yet calculated defense that paved the way to a win for Brooklyn. Yes, I know it was the shot-making that pushed Brooklyn the final yards to their destination, but they also didn’t hang with one of the best in the West for that long because they had the offensive firepower to do so.

If you turn back the tape and watch beyond those final highlights, it’s clear what it was instead…

The term “defense wins championships” has perhaps never been under more fire in its multi-year and multi-sport history than this week thanks to those knuckleheads over in Dallas. But the Nets weren’t looking for a championship tonight and won’t be for some time. They just wanted a win — and they used that to get it.