ORLANDO, Fla. — Losing Kyrie Irving has shrunk Brooklyn’s margin for error from massive to miniscule. And it’s making Steve Nash earn his money.
Nash has had to switch on the fly, turning what he thought would be an offensive juggernaut into a grind-it-out bunch. Coming into Wednesday’s game with the Magic, he’s had to fine-tune every detail because they can’t expect Irving’s brilliance to open up the game.
Nash claims he’s fine with all that. Not that he has much choice.
“Yeah, he’s a huge piece of our operation. [He’s] somebody that can break the defense down whenever they want, can create shots for themselves. He just has such an elite skill set,” Nash said. “This [roster] in particular is built around three stars, so to lose one, it affects not only the top of the team, but it also affects the bottom of the team, you know?
“The players that you recruit with what’s left of the salary cap are different. And then to lose that player, there’s a trickle-down effect. So, that’s just the nature of it. We’ve enjoyed trying to put this puzzle together, and our players have been incredibly engaged in how they can learn to play the right way and play together in a fashion that suits our group. So it’s a big piece to miss, obviously, but we’re enjoying trying to find a way to get the ball in the basket without it.”
That’s not to say the Nets have gone from high-flying to Hoosiers overnight because of the loss of Irving. They still have Kevin Durant and James Harden. But removing a third of the Big 3 has forced Nash to double down on every minute point in practice, going from grand ideas to granular details.
“The principles are the same, it’s just we didn’t have to necessarily teach and declare every little detail last year because we were scoring at a historic rate. This year though, we have to teach,” Nash said. “We have to be clear on how these pieces fit together and how they best help each other succeed. So that’s more of a project. I’m enjoying that process.”
He’d better, because this could take a while.
There’s no indication that Irving is going to get vaccinated or the city is about to change its mandates. That leaves the Nets trying to learn one another well enough to play quickly and with the pace they need to score.
“Sometimes the ball will get stagnant and stick. You don’t want it to be a last-second resort where you throw it to Kev with [seven seconds] on the shot clock and just hope he makes the play,” Joe Harris said. “The easier offense for everybody is when it’s initiated early, when the ball is moving. You have an experienced team with guys who know how to play.”
For their part, the Nets are hoping all that experience — all those 30-somethings with a decade of NBA games under their belts — will help them get in sync. Patty Mills, 33, admits it won’t happen in one game, or even 10 games. But having veterans who’ve seen and done it all will help in adjusting first to a turned-over roster then to one robbed of an All-Star point guard.
“The part of being a professional athlete and being able to have longevity is your ability to adjust to things on the fly,” Mills said. “So I don’t think they’re those two separate things: It’s one big adjustment and then little adjustments within that. … That’s an experience thing that you need to understand. You can’t ride the waves too high and too low — but if you can adjust on the fly and make those minimal, then that’s the way to go about a long season, a long marathon.”