If the Nets performed in Philadelphia the best way they performed in Toronto on Thanksgiving Eve, they’d be winners of 4 in a row.
Not a recreation beneath .500.
But clearly they wanted that embarrassment in Ben Simmons’ return to Philly as a wake-up name.
Their 112-98 victory over the Raptors on Thursday was the get-right recreation. The Nets emptied their bench with 4 minutes left within the fourth quarter.
“Definitely a difference,” Kyrie Irving mentioned after the sport. “When we’re playing together like that, anything is possible. We’ve just got to build that consistency.”
It was proof that this Nets staff merely has to play onerous for 48 minutes to deal with enterprise night-to-night.
Like the 76ers, who have been with out James Harden, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey of their upset win over the Nets on Tuesday, the Raptors have been depleted: Precious Achiuwa, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Otto Porter Jr., Justin Champagnie, Scottie Barnes and Dalano Banton all missed the sport with varied accidents.
And similar to the 76ers, the Raptors outrebounded the Nets, notably on the offensive glass — which has been an Achilles heel in Brooklyn for years. Toronto grabbed 23 offensive rebounds to Brooklyn’s seven.
It’s the primary time within the final 20 years the Nets have given up 20 or extra offensive rebounds in back-to-back video games.
And but the Nets compensated — as Jacque Vaughn demanded after Tuesday’s unpacking — for his or her greatest shortcoming just by taking part in tougher.
Hitting pictures additionally helps, however pictures come simpler on defensive stops, and defensive stops take what the Nets couldn’t ship in Philly.
Grit.
It’s what makes the sport simpler for everybody on the ground.
Kevin Durant, for instance, solely scored 12 factors, his lowest-scoring recreation of the season. He shot 5-of-10 from the ground and recorded seven rebounds and 5 assists.
He didn’t must shoot 20-plus instances, although, as a result of all 5 Nets starters scored in double figures. Irving led the cost with 29 factors on 11-of-16 taking pictures from the sector and five-of-eight taking pictures from downtown.
“Got great open looks from my teammates driving to the paint,” Irving mentioned.
It’s his second consecutive high-efficiency scoring night time after taking pictures 10-of-16 within the loss to the Sixers.
Simmons cleared a hurdle taking part in in his first back-to-back of the season. After an emotional return to his outdated area, he performed 33 minutes and tallied 14 factors and 6 assists. He performed free security, intercepting passes all night time and completed with three steals and two blocks.
The Nets have Thanksgiving off earlier than touring to Indiana to play the Pacers on Friday.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com