Brooklyn Nets waste Kyrie Irving’s spectacular debut; 3 takeaways

1. Third quarter showed what Prince, Nets can be

Taurean Prince had a decent debut for the Brooklyn Nets, picking up 15 points to go with 11 rebounds in 41 minutes.

The problem was the distribution of his offensive contributions. All 15 of Prince’s points came during Brooklyn’s gigantic third quarter, when the Nets outscored the Minnesota Timberwolves 37-20 to turn a 12-point halftime deficit into a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Prince was 6-for-7 in the third, a period during which the Nets were 15-for-23 (65.2 percent) overall and 5-for-9 from 3-point range (55.6 percent). Prince was 2-for-2 during that spurt.

Brooklyn moved the ball more effectively in the third, as well, picking up six assists after recording only eight in the first half.

But the third quarter showed us what the Brooklyn Nets can be when they commit to moving the ball. Joe Harris also came alive in the third period, scoring eight of his 14 points on 3-of-4 shooting, hitting 2-of-3 from deep.

Harris and Prince were a combined 9-for-11 overall and 4-of-5 from bonus land in the third quarter. In the first half, they were a combined 0-for-6, with Harris — the NBA’s leading 3-point shooter last season — not getting a single attempt from behind the line.

Unfortunately for the Nets and their fans, Brooklyn went back to heavy doses of iso ball in the fourth quarter and overtime, assisting on just three of their eight makes in the period as Minnesota came back to tie the game.

Coach Kenny Atkinson wants the ball to swing around the perimeter to keep the defense moving, while taking advantage of mismatches out of the pick-and-roll. The problem was that the Nets’ ball-handlers — Kyrie Irving, Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie — were often too quick to settle for isolation attempts … whether they were there or not.

That led to forced shots and turnovers in the paint — LeVert and Dinwiddie each coughed the ball up five times, with three of Dinwiddie’s coming while trying to force lobs inside to DeAndre Jordan.

Finding the right mix on offense will be important for the Nets, as will LeVert and Dinwiddie coming to grips with the fact they are good in isolation, but that Irving is elite, rather than playing “follow the leader” when Irving is taking the ball to the rim with regularity.