You could try to drain the Atlantic Ocean spoonful by spoonful. You could watch reruns of “Twin Peaks” and try to determine just what the heck was going on. You could wait for the Nets to be championship contenders again.
All basically would be a waste of time.
After they were demolished and embarrassed by the Pacers in Indiana 10 days ago and then bullied by the Pistons in Detroit on Friday, the Nets said, “Enough.” No more weak-sister starts. No more listless efforts. No more being pushed around. Enough.
Sometimes, enough is never enough.
The Nets again started in a trance, fell behind and were overpowered yesterday as the Pacers again did the bullying, romping to a 105-86 win. The Nets’ fleeting home-court preeminence was nowhere to be seen in Newark.
“Another slow start for us, and that’s something that we’re really going to have to seriously address,” coach Avery Johnson said.
Johnson suggested he may have to juggle his starting unit — but it would not be to remove Derrick Favors — now that his Nets (15-37) have lost to the Pacers (21-27) twice by a total of 51 points in a little over a week.
“It’s not the end of the world. Nobody’s panicking. We know where are with this ballclub, but we really have to seriously take a look with how we’re starting the games, which we’ve done,” Johnson concluded. “But we’re going to have to go even deeper.”
This mess got away from the Nets early, and though there were a few runs here and there, they never were closer than nine points in the second half against the Pacers, now 4-0 under interim coach Frank Vogel. Brook Lopez and Devin Harris, who each scored 13 points, were on the bench with two fouls before six minutes had elapsed. The Nets ended the first quarter down nine.
“It’s defensively right now,” said Anthony Morrow, who scored 11 points, making him the only other Net in double figures while the Pacers had six, led by Dahntay Jones with 18 and 3-point surgeon Mike Dunleavy with 17 (he was 5-of-6 on triples). “Transition was bad. We just got to do a better job getting back defensively. Offensively, just got to get that zip in the swings we had a few games ago.”
So they would be solid if only they didn’t stink on defense and offense.
“It’s just our intensity level,” Harris said. “We’ve got no excuses. Rebounding, it’s just about hitting guys and getting physical. For some reason we do it at some point, but we don’t do it for an extended amount of time.”
Johnson will examine the start of games, which have been pitiful, as a possible spot to increase the Nets’ energy. He already has said rookie Damion James (out since Dec. 9 with a broken foot) will start upon his return. Who stays in the starting lineup is a subject for speculation. Johnson said he will do “whatever it takes” to right the Nets, who are 1-5 since their 4-1 homestand that raised hope and expectations.
“We know Favors is going to start, so let’s kill the speculation on that — he’s not coming out of the lineup. He and Brook, they’re going to stay in the starting lineup,” said Johnson, who likely will keep Harris in as starting point guard, too. “We just have to look at where we were during the homestand and where we are now.
“Right now, we’re an open book. We’re not set on anything. It’s not like we’ve been together that long, so it’s good for us to try different things. That’s what this year’s all about.”