Monday’s game was very winnable for the Brooklyn Nets. Although the 115-86 finish may indicate otherwise, the Indiana Pacers were without multiple key pieces. While the Nets didn’t have Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert, the combination of Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris and Taurean Prince, with contributions from others, should’ve been able to put Brooklyn over the top.
But the offense wasn’t there, particularly in the first half. Though, while Brooklyn’s poor shooting didn’t help the situation, it wasn’t necessarily the driving force behind the loss.
After holding the Pacers to 18 points in the first quarter, the Nets allowed them to score 41 in the second, creating a 59-35 gap at the half.
Harris attributes Brooklyn’s miserable second quarter, and the loss on the whole, to the reoccurring issue the Nets have had:
It’s frustrating because it’s sort of been the same scenario for a lot of the season where we haven’t put a full 48 minutes together. Tonight, second quarter, obviously [a] big lapse defensively. Big lapse on the defensive glass. But it’s a lot of stuff where, you know, you come in prepared, game plan is there, coaches have you ready and then it’s just sort of a lack of energy on our part. And that’s why it’s frustrating.
Harris elaborated further on why this problem isn’t something the Nets should be dealing with:
There’s a lotta stuff that’s out of your control when you play, but the things that are in your control are competing every possession, playing hard every possession, you know, having that sense of urgency, the ownership, the pride, and a lot of that stuff is just not there with us right now. It’s there in lapses, but it’s not there consistently.
As for why this is happening, Harris doesn’t have an explanation:
If we knew we’d be playing at a pretty high level, obviously. I think you go through waves, like any team, over the course of the season where you’re gonna have a stretch of really good games where it is there relatively consistently. ‘Cause if we can do it for even 38, 40 minutes, you know, you’re going to put yourself in position to win a lot of games. It’s when you have the big lapses like we had tonight and like we’ve had up until this point in the season.