Brooklyn Nets: Necessary Adjustments For Game 2

The first game in the Brooklyn Nets‘ playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks didn’t quite end in their favor.

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The Nets ultimately lost to the Hawks 99-92, but the final score gives more credit to the Nets for keeping the game relatively close than it should.

Brooklyn only had one two-point lead over Atlanta the entire game, indicative of the Hawks’ dominance from start to finish.

Even though the Nets shot better from the field overall than the Hawks (45.6 percent compared to 43 percent), Atlanta hit all of its free throws down the stretch, converting on 21-of-22 attempts from the charity stripe. The Hawks also limited their turnovers, only coughing the ball up 14 times as opposed to the Nets’ 17 total turnovers.

Overall, the Hawks just seemed comfortable playing against the Nets at home even though the game was a more high-pressure situation than a regular season game. They played to their strength of shooting the basketball and getting easy attempts both within the offense and at the free throw line. The Hawks didn’t force a lot of shots, something that Brooklyn can’t exactly claim for themselves.

Joe Johnson and Bogdan Bogdanovic had a rough time shooting the basketball from range in the game, combining for 1-of-11 from the three-point line. The Nets looked for shots from beyond the arc early and often, but it didn’t play to their favor as the Hawks closed out on defense more times than not and almost always contested Brooklyn’s attempts from deep.

Looking at the second game in the series, the biggest adjustment the Nets will have to make is the tempo that they want to play at.

When the Nets decided to speed the game up, it played more to Atlanta’s strengths than their own. The Hawks have more athletes on the floor than Brooklyn, as the Nets are an older team that is at its best when it focuses its offense in the halfcourt through center Brook Lopez. In fact, the Nets were the sixth-slowest team in terms of pace during the regular season, only adding more evidence to what Brooklyn should be doing on offense.

Speaking of running their attack through Lopez, that didn’t happen agains the Hawks, as Lopez only had seven shot attempts through the entire game. What doesn’t make sense is why the Nets didn’t go to him more, as he hit on six of those shots, scoring an efficient 17 points while also grabbing 14 rebounds.

Lopez got the majority of his points off of his six offensive rebounds, which is great because it shows that he played with an intensity against Atlanta, but it still doesn’t make up for his lack of involvement in the team’s offense.

Lopez is bigger than both of Atlanta’s starting frontcourt players in Paul Millsap and Al Horford. As evidenced by his efficiency and total rebounds, Lopez has a clear physical advantage over the Hawks, which means he should be the team’s go-to option, not one of the perimeter players that can fall prey to Atlanta’s switching and tight defense by its wing players.

If the Nets want to limit the Hawks’ transition game and overall effectiveness on offense, then it would be in their best interest to slow the game down and take advantage of their big man inside. Gunning perimeter shots that more often than not fall into the hands of the Hawks doesn’t help the Nets one bit because it gives Atlanta more opportunities to get out and run, as the Nets’ transition defense was an exploited weakness throughout the game.

Brooklyn has the talent to be competitive with Atlanta in this series. However, if the Nets are going to try and play the Hawks’ style of play while taking ill-advised perimeter shots versus doing what they’re best at, then they have no chance at coming close to the Hawks because they aren’t giving themselves a fighting chance to win.

The playoffs are all about dictating the game by playing at the speed you’re most comfortable at. Without doing that, the Nets won’t get anywhere and may be out of the postseason in four games.

*Statistics courtesy of NBA.com

Next: Brook Lopez: The Key To The Nets' Future

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