Without question, time has helped the Nets improve noticeably since the start of the season. Both on defense and offense.
But, on the surface, it does seem odd Brooklyn is clicking on offense without Kyrie Irving. Same goes for Caris LeVert.
Specifically, the passing has been better. The Nets still put up points when Irving was playing, but they were disjointed. It’s easy to blame the superstar point guard, since he runs the offense and likes to go iso — because he’s one of the best at it — but there’s more to it.
Spencer Dinwiddie, who has led the Nets throughout the Irving and LeVert’s absence, explained the difference between the Nets offense now and earlier in the season to reporters at Tuesday’s practice:
When we were healthy and all in the lineup, as prolific as a scorer as Kyrie is — and he’s been a better scorer in the NBA than me all the years — it’s harder to blitz him if you have Caris on the floor, if you have other guys on the floor. Because, OK, now you’re blitzing, but you’re giving Caris layups. But the way [other teams] view our team as of right now is, ‘OK, if we blitz Spencer and we’re putting it in a ‘non-ballhandler’s’ hands, we’re going to live with that.’ Well, what happens is, you see guys like Taurean [Prince] attacking the rim and making plays and showing expansion in his game. It’s pretty much people just trying to pick their poison.