Here are three thoughts on the Nets’ 96-88 overtime loss to the Mavericks in Brooklyn Monday night:
1. Whether or not a player is “clutch” or not is a pretty subjective thing.
If you’d seen Joe Johnson in the last 10 seconds of a game with the ball in his hands over the past two seasons, you’d think he was the equivalent of Derek Jeter. If you’d seen him in the same situations this season, however, you would think he was Alex Rodriguez.
But, really, nothing has changed. Johnson is still the same calm, cool customer that knocked down shots in late-and-close situations in his first two years as a Net, despite Monday’s potential game-winner over former Net Richard Jefferson clanging off the rim. It made him 0-for-4 with 10 seconds or less in a 3-point game this season.
If you think the Nets are going to go in a different direction at the end of games now that Johnson’s missed a few … well, just listen to this response when Johnson was asked if he had to ask for the ball after Monta Ellis free throws tied the game at 82 with 10.5 seconds left in regulation.
“I don’t think I had to ask for it,” Johnson said with a smile.
No, he didn’t, because even though he’s missed a few times this season at the horn, the Nets aren’t going to stop going to him. He’s made too many shots in those situations over the past two years for them to do anything but give it to him and expect him to do it again.
2. Brook Lopez had a fourth straight strong performance, finishing with 22 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots in 33 minutes. While 18 points and six rebounds came in the first quarter – a typically fast start from Lopez when he’s in the starting lineup – it’s still the kind of total production the Nets love to see.
Even more importantly, he and Mason Plumlee functioned fairly well together in the nearly 13 minutes they played together, outscoring the Mavericks by a rate of 2.8 points per 100 possessions. If they can continue to be that effective, perhaps Nets coach Lionel Hollins will be able to utilize that pairing more often.
3. Up until Johnson buried a pair of long 3-pointers that tied the game at 80 with 1:40 to go in the fourth quarter, the Nets had gone just 1-for-22 from behind the 3-point arc, and they finished a dreadful 3-for-25. In the NBA these days, it’s almost impossible to beat any good team – let alone a quality opponent like the Mavericks – when you’re struggling that much from deep.
The Nets really need to get Mirza Teletovic, in particular, on track. Teletovic is shooting just 29.1 percent from 3-point range since Dec. 1, and with Deron Williams out of the lineup with a sore left side, they really need Teletovic’s ability to stretch the floor.
The sooner Teletovic gets going, the sooner the Nets will start to see their offensive numbers begin to improve to where they expected them to be.