Prokorov wrote:Great Game! My thoughts:
1) Harden cooked late. which was a sight for sore eyes for all Nets fans. KDs comments he is learning when to be aggressive and when to pass seem spot on. But at least we have now seen him turn it on. He needs to do that with the bench unit, but it has become clear that every team will zone us the second KD/Kyrie go to the bench. I think its important to have Harris out with Harden to bust the zone. Harder for harden to take over if teams zone him.
2) Kyrie racking up the floor burns. diving out of bounds. digging in defensively. great to see. especially for haters who question his buy in or selfishness.
3) We responded defensively. It still wasn't great but we dug in and we got stops in a game where everyone was off for 36 minutes. We won a game ina fashion that most people said we couldnt
4) you now its KILLING haters that Kyrie let harden take over late and then celebrated him. doesnt fir their narrative. It is clear the teamw ill ride the hot guy late. 3 best 4th quarter scorers in the league. Fun times.
5) Jordan has played better. But Nash has limited him to 20ish mionutes. probably a good thing as he seems to not be as productive in more then that. Although id rather stagger it were he plays more in crunch time then reggie perry.
6) Bam had a good game, but for the second straight night i was like "there is 0 chance they can beat us with bam taking Iso mid range jumpers". as soon as he misses a couple its a big run for us.
7) Kyrie/KD/Harden are improving every game together. shots werent falling tonight but there is a flow. guys are focused on taking open shots and beating their man and less so on who gets it when. despite the "only 1 ball crowd" there are 20 shots to be had for each of them every night
I know this was tight throughout, but i just never felt like we could lose this one. they were getting calls, we werent, they were hitting bank shot no look threes at the buzzer and we were 1-15 from three at one point, and despite that it was always a 1 or 2 possesion game. eventually the dam broke for the heat.
Still dont love Nash at the moment. I think he will get better, but you cant watch your 3 stars consistently hit the hardwood on layup attempts with no calls while the other team parades to the FT line. Go get a technical there
Every time Irving and Durant drive they get hit. No call. Yet, you brush Bam's arm on a follow through and it's an automatic whistle. I don't understand the officiating.
