Joe Harris: Nets’ chemistry would feel the same with Kyrie Irving, Caris LeVert active

The Nets’ togetherness has improved with Caris Levert and Kyrie Irving out. Joe Harris doesn’t think their absence led to the change.

In the span of a week, the Brooklyn Nets found out they were going to be without Caris LeVert for an extended period of time and Kyrie Irving was dealing with a right shoulder impingement. After six games without the twosome, Brooklyn has been forced to grow together quickly.

The Nets defense has improved vastly during the stretch, which Kenny Atkinson and his players have stressed is a result of the team’s sense of togetherness. The more they play together, the more than understand one another.

While Irving and LeVert’s injuries made it imperative for the Nets to speed up the development of their team chemistry, it doesn’t mean Brooklyn wasn’t going to come together if Irving and LeVert never got hurt, as Joe Harris explained to reporters following Monday’s 103-101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers:

I think we’re, sort of, seeing the new guys meshing in. Ya know, obviously, we’re short-handed. But if Ky or Caris and these guys were healthy, I think we still would’ve seen the same thing … the continuity is coming together, guys are getting more and more familiar with one another. As a result, you see it on the defensive end. When the defense is good, [that] ultimately translates to good offense.