PHOENIX — They say the NBA is a make-or-miss league. All too often recently, the Nets have been letting teams do the former.
Brooklyn has been determined to protect the rim at all costs, but lately the cost has been getting lit up from the perimeter.
The Nets gave up a near-record 3-point barrage in Monday’s loss in Sacramento, reminiscent of the one that cost them against Charlotte.
And it’s becoming a problem heading into Wednesday’s game with the Suns.
“The [Kings] are a fast-pace team. They were in the conference finals last year, so they’re one of the best teams in the league, got a center who can pass the ball,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “Bunch of guys get to moving, and they made a bunch of tough shots. But we got to do a better job of running guys off the line.”
The Nets surrendered 25 of 45 (55.6 percent) shooting from behind the arc, the second-most 3-pointers they’ve allowed in franchise history and a team-record for the Kings.
It marked the second implosion of their perimeter defense in five games.
Brooklyn had watched the horrible Hornets shoot 21 of 36 (58.3 percent) from 3-point range in a bad loss Nov. 30.
Those are the two highest totals allowed by the Nets this season, the 25 just one shy of the team-record allowed Feb. 1 to Boston.
“We’ve just got to execute our game plan. Knowing when to rotate, we’re helping trying to get the ball out of the paint,” Mikal Bridges said. “So, we’ve got to be just locked in on knowing when to step up. And when one guy is helping you, he’s trusting his brother to step up, and if he doesn’t, it’s going to be wide open. So we’ve just got to just follow the game plan and lock in on it.”
While the Nets’ 36.3 percentage allowed from deep is middle-of-the pack, the problem is they haven’t run foes off the line and have given up far too many looks from deep, clean or not.
They’ve allowed the fifth-most 3-pointers (13.9) and the fourth-most attempts (38.3).
That bottomed out in Sacramento.
“It seems like some of them were looks … were a little bit too open. But some of them were contested looks that you can somewhat live with, so I’ve got to go back and look at that again,” Cam Johnson said of the Kings, who ran Brooklyn around with 38 assists. “Just putting us in rotations, putting us in rotations and kicking back and then playing with the quick-decision mentality.”
Bridges and Johnson — who helped the Suns reach the 2021 Finals — will be honored with a video in their first visit back to Phoenix since being dealt to the Nets.
Ex-Nets star Kevin Durant sat out Tuesday night with what was listed as a left ankle sprain. His status for Wednesday was unclear a few hours before tipoff.
Ben Simmons (back) and Lonnie Walker IV (hamstring) are out for Brooklyn. Dennis Smith will miss his third straight game with an upper back sprain.
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