The Nets didn’t shoot the lights out in their Game 3 win over the Hawks on Saturday, misfiring at 38.6 percent and going just 7-for-22 (31.8 percent) from 3-point range.
But because the Nets were able to get off to a hot start — they made half their shots in the first quarter while going 4-for-9 from beyond the arc — it allowed the paint to open up for Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young, and both took advantage of the newfound room to operate.
“No question,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. “When you’re making shots, the other team is wary of that.
“We’re wary of that when the other team is making shots and we have an inside presence we have to deal with. It makes you want to stay closer to home.”
That certainly seemed to be the case in Game 3. Lopez finished game with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Young had 18 points and 11 rebounds, with the two combining for 34 shots.
“Anytime we can start the game making shots, moving the ball and executing, it’s always going to open up the floor for us,” Young said. “The guys did a very good job of spacing the court and making them play every inch of the court. That’s the biggest thing.
“We’ve been kind of shrinking the court and trying to play close quarters and it hasn’t been working out too well for us. But last game we spaced it out really well, and we were able to make some passes out of the post to get those guys rotating and we were able to drive off of secondary actions.”
With the season on the line, Hollins essentially used seven players Saturday, and it’s unlikely that will change much as the series progresses.
Lopez, Young and Joe Johnson all recorded more than 40 minutes in Game 3, while Bojan Bogdanovic (33:56), Jarrett Jack (26:57), Deron Williams (26:02) and Alan Anderson (19:59) all logged major minutes.
Both Mason Plumlee and Mirza Teletovic got in the game but not for long, with 4:13 and 3:45 of court time respectively.
With Lopez playing heavy minutes, there isn’t much opportunity for Plumlee to play, while Teletovic is still being eased back into the flow after sitting out for three months after the discovery of blood clots in his lungs — only to stunningly be cleared for basketball activities 10 days ago.