After lifting the Nets to victory in Game 4 with a sensational performance, things reverted to their recent norms for Deron Williams in Brooklyn’s loss to Atlanta in Game 5 Wednesday night.
But while Williams, who went off for 35 points on 13-for-25 shooting overall and 7-for-11 from 3-point range, was unable to repeat that performance, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. That’s because not only was it unlikely for anyone to be as hot for two consecutive games as Williams was at times Monday, but he also struggled to finish at the rim — which has been an issue all season.
Williams didn’t even make shots at the rim in Game 4, going just 3-for-8 in the restricted area, and followed that up by going 1-for-4 at the rim in Game 5. That’s a trend that goes back to the regular season, when Williams shot 43.2 percent on shots within 5 feet of the basket, per NBA.com — far below the league average of about 60 percent.
Why? Well, it’s for the same reason Derrick Rose has struggled for the Bulls at times this season: Both are capable of getting to the spots they used to on the court, but lack the same explosion after the injuries they’ve had to finish the way they used to among the bigger bodies in the lane.
While Williams is still a good outside shooter, and is capable of getting hot as he did in Game 4, the fact he’s become a pedestrian finisher inside can help explain why his stats can fluctuate game-to-game.
Nets coach Lionel Hollins said he shied away from using Mason Plumlee at times during Game 5 to give Brook Lopez a breather because he was concerned about his counterpart, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer, adopting the “Hack-A-Shaq” strategy with Plumlee, a 49.5 percent foul shooter this season who is now 2-for-8 in this series from the free-throw line.
Budenholzer, however, wouldn’t say part of his strategy in employing it in Games 2 and 4 of the series was to keep Lopez on the floor and, in the process, tire out the Nets’ big man, who is far bigger than his Hawks counterparts.
“You can never be sure how people are going to sub or react or any of those things,” Budenholzer said. “It’s just trying to put us in our best position to win. There are lots of side benefits [of the strategy] … you could go down and list them if you wanted to. If [Brook tiring] is one of them, it’s part of the game. It’s part of trying to find a way to win, and put us in the best position we can.”