Brooklyn Nets fans can stand up. The team’s identity is being built off of defense and players are displaying it on the court with their hard nosed, physical and relentless efforts night in and night out. DeAndre’ Bembry, Bruce Brown, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and even James Harden are making their presence felt on that end of the floor and statistics are backing it up.
While allowing only 103.3 PPG, the Nets currently rank fourth in the league defensive rating according to NBA.com. Overall, the team has a defensive rating of 103 and they are rapidly approaching the Chicago Bulls (102.6) and the Los Angeles Clippers (101) to keep moving up on that list.
Bembry has been the most productive on that end so far for Brooklyn. He currently holds the team’s best defensive efficiency at 97.9. As for Harden, he is playing the best defense of his career to begin the campaign. His defensive efficiency sits at 101.3, a career-best, and he is averaging 1.1 SPG and 1 BPG.
It doesn’t end there though for the Nets. The veteran Griffin has already drawn six charges this season, which is only one short of Derrick White (7), who has drawn the most charges this so far.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this team will look when the offense starts coming together. This will then raise the question on how long the Nets could keep this up. It is only nine games into the season.
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