NEW ORLEANS — They say necessity is the mother of invention. In the Nets’ case, it was the mother of improved defense.
When the Nets lost Kyrie Irving, what was supposed to be an overpowering offense had no choice but to figure out how to win on the other end.
“We haven’t found a great rhythm offensively,” coach Steve Nash said. “But defensively, we’ve really I think exceeded expectations and played well.”
Entering Friday’s game against the Pelicans with an 8-4 record — and having taken six of their last seven overall — the Nets have been doing just that.
“I think the recipe for any team trying to contend and win a championship, you’ve got to be defensive minded,” Paul Millsap said. “You’ve got to be good on both ends of the court, but defense is really where you want to make your statement.
“You want to be able to get stops. You want to be able to stop teams. You want to be able to have teams fear you, and know you’re a good defensive team. It’s kind of changed up their strategies and schemes. Our emphasis is defensive. We have some of the top offensive players in the world, so not too focused on that.”
The Nets have struggled on offense with Kevin Durant off the floor, and they have been even worse when Durant and James Harden are both out. That has made defense even more vital.
Durant and Harden have provided the scoring, but the defense has come from starters Bruce Brown and Blake Griffin, as well as a gritty remade second unit led by the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills and DeAndre’ Bembry, all of whom were signed in the offseason.
“We don’t want to just be top-heavy. We want our second unit to be really good. We want to be able to contribute to help other guys. That starts on the defensive end,” Millsap said. “We’re zoned in on the defensive end, especially in the second unit, that a lot of our defense helps our offense. As long as we continue to do that we’re going to be a really good team.”
Griffin’s days as a skywalker are long over, but the six-time All-Star has embraced doing the dirty work. He came into Friday leading the NBA in charges taken (seven) and charges per 36 minutes (1.02).
Aldridge actually has one more All-Star berth than Griffin, but came into Friday third in the league in box-outs on a per-minute basis. And Bembry was fourth in deflections, having shown himself to be a solid on-ball defender, but positively disruptive off the ball.
“When [Bembry’s] on the floor, it’s to defend and disrupt,” Nash said.
“That’s just what [Bembry] does. He’s always been defensive-minded. He’s always been a playmaker on the offensive end. He’s just doing what he does,” Millsap said.
“Yeah, for sure, I hold myself accountable for that. All of us. Patty had one of his best summers ever this past summer, and he’s brought that energy coming off the bench,” Bembry said. “Me and Patty talk about it all the time: Coming off the bench, you need to bring some type of spark, and that’s what we try to do and find different ways of doing it.”
Since losing Irving, the Nets had to pull Brown from that bench unit and start him in the All-Star’s vacated spot. But they came into Friday just one-half game out of first place in the Eastern Conference.
“Yeah, when the season first started, we had a lot of guys that were unsure how this was going to go down,” Bembry said.
“Bruce, he kind of fits with the starters, especially with James, with their two-man, helps the starting unit out a lot. Just having him inserted into that lineup defensively helps those guys. And for us coming off the bench, Bruce set a tone for us. Me, Patty, [Aldridge] protecting the rim, Paul can guard guards as well and [Jevon Carter] of course. We try to come out there and change the pace.”