MIAMI — The Nets’ offensive woes continued. So did their losing.
Brooklyn fell 110-95 to Miami before a sellout crowd of 19,832 at Kaseya Center on Monday night. And once again, it wasn’t their effort or defense that did them in, but their lack of scoring punch.
“We need to score more points,” said Nic Claxton. “They didn’t score a whole lot. They did have some spurts, but we need to score more points.”
Brooklyn came into the game sixth in the league in 3-pointers attempted and seventh in 3s made. But they shot just 39.3 percent overall and 13-of-34 from deep, continuing an offensive malaise since trading away starting point guard Dennis Schroder.
They got harassed by Miami’s ball pressure, and run off the line into low-value midrange looks.
“The (Heat) did a great job defensively, and we fell into a lot of mid-range shots, contested tough ones. And that was the biggest difference,” said coach Jordi Fernandez. “I think that when you allow 52 points in the second half, you should give yourself a chance. We shot the 3 well, but like I said, turnovers into points but also the shot selection right there.
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“I would have traded some of those mid-range into rim shots, hopefully free throws. We just didn’t get there. That third quarter was 9-0 for them free throws. And I think we tried, I think we did a great job, we just didn’t get there. So gotta give them credit. But I’m proud of the guys, the way they play, the fight, the togetherness, how we play basketball.”
Brooklyn (11-18) has dropped five of six, and eight of their last ten.
Cam Johnson and Noah Clowney led the Nets with 19 points each.
“I’m just trying to contribute to the team to win. You know, that’s my job. That’s what I want to do,” said Johnson. “Nobody in here wants to lose everything. It sucks. So I’m just trying to do whatever I can do for it for our team to win”
Johnson continued to create well for himself, hitting 7-of-15 overall and 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
Clowney added five rebounds and hit 4-of-10 from behind the arc. He’s starting to find his footing in the two-man game with Ben Simmons, while lob threat Nic Claxton misses Dennis Schroder’s pick-and-roll game and finished with a quiet six points.
“We talked about it. Some of them we couldn’t control, some of them were also they have great versatility and ability to switch with Bam playing big,” said Clowney. “So sometimes it was what we had available, but a lot of them we probably could’ve controlled.
“This game, like we said, our shot selection could have been a lot better. Like I said we were shooting 38% from 30. We didn’t shoot as many as we usually do. That’s something we want to do. So, shot a lot of middies. So, yeah, that’s for this game…tonight it was shot selection.”
The Nets coughed up a 19-7 run that spanned the first and second quarter, fueled by their three quick turnovers. The last was a Shake Milton giveaway to Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic’s ensuing free throws that left them down 41-28.
The deficit was still 13 after Duncan Robinson’s finger roll made it 51-38 with 5:41 left in the half. Simmons got hit with a technical for arguing with the officials – he felt he was raked across the arm on his missing hook shot on the prior possession — and Tyler Herro hit the ensuing free throw.
But first, it’s important to note Simmons — a notoriously poor free throw shooter who infuriated first Philadelphia and then Brooklyn fans by seemingly avoiding drawing fouls — was now irate over not getting to the charity stripe.
The Nets seemed to feed on his fire, and had four assists in a 19-6 run to close the half.
Brooklyn trailed 57-56 going into the locker room, and 83-78 going into the fourth. But they never got over the hump.
“Definitely their ball pressure bothered us. And that’s what they do, right? They’re one of the best teams, especially with the side outs and their zone,” Fernandez said. “But I would’ve traded some of those, the midrange. Some of those are like hooks or floaters, which I’m okay with those shots. But yeah, 19 (midrange) is too many, especially when you’re shooting 38% for the game.”
