Category: Brooklyn Nets Blog

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Nets without Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin against Jazz

The Nets were missing the majority of an All-Star team-level starting lineup tonight. Via the New York Post:

The Nets’ Big Three was officially pared down to a Big Zero, with James Harden a late scratch from Wednesday’s game at NBA-leading Utah.

After suffering a neck injury in Sunday’s win, Harden had been listed as questionable and very much in doubt right through pregame warmups Tuesday in Portland before suiting up and leading the Nets to a come-from-behind victory. But questionable again a day later, he sat against the Jazz.

The team is also without Blake Griffin tonight. And of course, guard Spencer Dinwiddie also remains out for the season.

The starting Nets lineup tonight against the Jazz wound up as Tyler Johnson and Bruce Brown at guard, Joe Harris and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot at forward, and Jeff Green at center.

Nets will be without Kyrie Irving for upcoming road trip

A Nets team playing at full strength continues to be an elusive endeavor. Via the NY Daily News:

Kyrie Irving will not accompany the Nets on their three-game road trip and instead will tend to a family matter, the team announced on Monday. He will miss the team’s back-to-back games in Portland against the Trail Blazers and in Utah against the league-best Jazz. He will also miss Friday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons, a team that has proven difficult for Brooklyn to overcome.

The nature of the family matter is not immediately clear, and his absence is precisely why the Nets should fortify their back court and add another point guard to the roster.

Irving has been electric for the Nets at the shooting guard position, averaging a career-high 28 points on shooting percentages that could land him in the vaunted 50-40-90 club. But if the best ability is availability, Irving has not been at his best in his two seasons in Brooklyn.

The Nets are 29-14 this season, which is the second best record in the Eastern conference.

Their leading scorers so far in 2020-21 are Kevin Durant at 29.0 points per game (in just 19 games played), Irving at 28.1 ppg (in 31 games played), and James Harden at 25.4 ppg (in 29 games since being traded from the Rockets to the Nets).

Nets sign forward Alize Johnson to 10-day contract

The Brooklyn Nets have signed free agent forward Alize Johnson to a 10-day contract.

Johnson (6’7”, 212) joins the Nets after most recently playing for the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. In 15 games (all starts) for the 905 during the 2021 NBA G League season, the 24-year-old averaged a double-double with 16.6 points and 13.3 rebounds to go along with 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals in 32.1 minutes per game. Johnson, who ranked second overall in the NBA G League in rebounds per game, helped lead the Raptors 905 to the top seed in the 2021 NBA G League Playoffs with a 12-3 regular season record. Johnson was originally selected with the 50th overall pick in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. In 31 career games over two seasons (2018-20) with the Pacers, Johnson averaged 1.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 5.9 minutes per contest. He also spent time with Indiana’s NBA G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, over the two seasons and averaged 19.5 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 36.7 minutes in 50 total games (all starts).

The Pennsylvania native spent his junior and senior seasons (2016-18) playing collegiately at Missouri State, appearing in 66 total games (all starts) and averaging 14.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 30.7 minutes per game. Johnson was named All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team after both campaigns. He began his collegiate career at Frank Phillips College in Texas before transferring to MSU.

James Harden is having yet another amazing season

James Harden, traded by the Rockets to the Nets in mid January, continues to prove that he’s the rare type of superstar who can move mountains on a basketball court. Via the New York Post:

Where would the Nets, who are tied for the lead in the Eastern Conference, be without trading for Harden? Durant hasn’t played since Feb. 13 but the Nets are 12-1 without him as part of an extended 14-1 stretch. Irving was on a personal leave of absence when Harden was acquired and he has sat out three games during the recent surge, including Wednesday’s win over the Pacers, due to various shoulder and groin injuries.

“James is so elite he’s able to make the big plays that very few people can make down the stretch,” Nash said after coaching Harden through his 11th triple-double (40 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds) in 42 minutes on Wednesday. “When he plays that many minutes, he stuffs the stat sheet. I could go on and on about James and the nuances of what he does all night, but he definitely is a winner, a leader, and an elite, elite performer.”

The Nets are 28-13 this season, which ties them with the Sixers for the best record in the Eastern conference.

Their leading scorers so far in 2020-21 are Durant at 29.0 points per game (just 19 games played), Irving at 27.6 ppg, Harden at 25.7 ppg, and Joe Harris at 14.7 ppg.

Caris LeVert and Pacers set to face Nets

Caris LeVert showed great promise as a young NBA talent coming up with the Nets. His NBA journey resumes now that he recently made a successful Pacers debut. Via the NY Daily News:

Caris LeVert has recovered from his kidney surgery in time to give the Nets a blast from the past. The Nets traded LeVert to the Rockets in the James Harden trade, and when the Rockets subsequently traded him to Indiana for Victor Oladipo, the Pacers discovered a cancerous growth on his kidney.

LeVert returned on the two-month anniversary of his diagnosis and has played in both of the Pacers’ last two games. He scored 13 points in his Indiana debut then scored 17 points in his new team’s Monday loss to the Nuggets.

LeVert, who is starting in Indiana, will host a very different Nets team on Wednesday than the one that traded him, Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince, Rodions Kurucs and seven years worth of draft assets in a megadeal earlier this season.

Through two games for the Pacers so far, LeVert put up 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 28.0 minutes per outing.

Nets sign Blake Griffin, who recently accepted buyout from Pistons

The Brooklyn Nets have signed free agent forward Blake Griffin.

Per the New York Post, “Griffin officially came to Brooklyn on Monday, after having been bought out by Detroit. The veteran power forward sacrificed $13 million to leave the Pistons, for whom he averaged 12.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 20 games this season.”

“We’re fortunate to be able to add a player of Blake’s caliber to our roster at this point in the season,” said Nets General Manager Sean Marks. “Blake is a versatile frontcourt player with a long track record of success in our league, and we’re excited about the impact he’ll make for us both on and off the court in Brooklyn.”

Per the Post, “James Harden — who rejected a two-way, $103 million extension from Houston to join the Nets — said that move showed just how serious Griffin is about earning a championship.”

Griffin (6’10”, 250) has appeared in 642 games (all starts) across 11 NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers (2010-18) and Detroit Pistons (2018-21), recording averages of 21.4 points on 49.5 percent shooting from the field, 33.1 percent shooting from 3-point range and 69.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line, 8.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 34.7 minutes per contest. In the 2020-21 season, Griffin has seen action in 20 games with the Pistons, averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 31.3 minutes per game. A six-time NBA All-Star (2011-15, 2019), Griffin has spent the bulk of his NBA career with the Clippers, averaging 21.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 35.1 minutes per game in 504 games with the franchise.

Griffin is also a five-time All-NBA selection, taking home second-team honors three times as a Clipper (2012-14) and third-team honors twice with the Clippers (2015) and Pistons (2019). Since making his debut in the 2010-11 season, Griffin ranks ninth in the league in field goals made (5,130), 10th in points (13,724) and 15th in rebounds (5,605). Griffin has also made seven playoff appearances in his career, including six straight seasons (2011-17) with the Clippers, helping lead the franchise to three Western Conference Semifinals appearances (2012, 2014-15). In 53 career playoff games, Griffin has averaged 21.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 35.3 minutes per contest.

Per the New York Daily News, “Griffin attempted at least three three-pointers in every game he played for the Pistons this season. He has 14 games with at least five attempts from deep, three games with 10 attempts, and one game where he thought he was Stephen Curry and made 8-of-16 treys in an overtime loss to the Cavaliers. Griffin, however, only converted threes at a 31.5% clip this season in Detroit, up from just 24% from deep last season. Those numbers project to increase due to the talent he’ll now play with in Brooklyn.”

The Oklahoma City native was selected with the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Clippers and sat out the 2009-10 season due to a knee injury. He made his regular season debut the following season and secured Rookie of the Year honors after posting averages of 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 37.9 minutes per game. Prior to beginning his NBA career, Griffin spent two years (2007-09) at the University of Oklahoma, earning the Naismith College Player of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year awards as a sophomore.

Nets win streak ends with loss to Mavs

With two of the Nets big three out, the Nets on Friday fell to a Mavericks squad that recently welcomed Kristaps Porzingis back to action. Via the NY Post:

The NBA’s longest winning streak ended Saturday with a thud, the sound of the red-hot Nets crashing back down from Cloud 9.

The Nets were undersized and undermanned, playing without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. But they aren’t using any of that an alibi for getting thrashed, 115-98, by Dallas at Barclays Center.

“No, this is a no-excuse team. If you’re on the floor, you’re going to play as hard as you can. They just got the best of us, and they got the win. That’s all it really was,” said Jeff Green, forced out of the game as well. “It’s not about us running out of gas or anything. We just didn’t come ready to play and they won.”

Not only did Irving’s scratch to rest his surgically repaired right shoulder pare the Big 3 down to a Big 1 in James Harden, the Nets also saw Tyler Johnson ruled out just before tipoff with a migraine and Green’s own shoulder injury removed him with 3:17 left in the third.

And the NY Daily News:

On one end of the floor, Luka Doncic spins off his man, drives down the lane and euro-steps around James Harden for the easy basket. On the other, Harden lulls his man to sleep, one flurry of crossovers after another, before stepping back for a contested three that borders on equal parts un-guardable and flat-out unfair.

Watching Doncic and Harden go toe-to-toe at Barclays Center on Saturday was like the viral meme of two Spidermen pointing at one another. Doncic finished with 27 points, seven assists and the victory, while Harden recorded 29 points and six assists in a superstar showdown that substantiated the similarities between the two offensive masterminds.

“Both of these guys are great one-on-one players,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said. “They’re great passers. They can both play the team movement game very well. Harden has been in a situation the last few years where the offense has really revolved around him, and our team it does around Luka similarly, but our style is a little bit different than Houston and Brooklyn, but both of these guys are generational type players. There’s no question about it, and that’s another thing that makes a game like this very compelling.”

In the Mavs win, supporting Doncic’s effort was Porzingis with 18 points, four rebounds, three blocks in 26 minutes, Tim Hardaway Jr. scoring 13 off the bench, Dorian Finney-Smith with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Josh Richardson with 11 points.

Nets bring Andre Roberson and Iman Shumpert back, on 10-day contracts

The Brooklyn Nets have signed guard/forward Andre Roberson and guard Iman Shumpert to 10-day contracts.

Roberson (6’7”, 210) was originally signed by Brooklyn on Feb. 16, playing 22 minutes across two games. He spent the first seven seasons (2013-20) of his NBA career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, appearing in 302 games (269 starts) and averaging 4.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game. Returning from a left knee injury, the San Antonio native saw action in seven games in the 2019-20 season, recording averages of 2.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per contest. An NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection in 2017, the 29-year-old Roberson has also made four playoff appearances with the Thunder, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2016.

Shumpert (6’5”, 215) previously signed with the Nets on Jan. 30 and made his season debut on Feb. 23 vs. Sacramento, logging six minutes of action. He also appeared in 13 games last season with the Nets after signing with Brooklyn on Nov. 13, 2019, recording averages of 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per contest prior to being waived by the Nets on Dec. 12, 2019. In 460 career games (246 starts) split between Brooklyn (2021, 2019), Houston (2019), Sacramento (2018-19), Cleveland (2015-18) and New York (2011-15), the 30-year-old has registered averages of 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals in 24.9 minutes per game. Shumpert has also appeared in 79 career postseason games with the Knicks, Cavaliers and Rockets and won an NBA Championship with Cleveland in 2016.

Jayson Tatum will start in place of Kevin Durant in 2021 NBA All-Star Game

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum will replace injured Nets forward Kevin Durant as a starter in the 2021 NBA All-Star Game.

Tatum had previously been named an All-Star reserve.

Also today, it was announced that Durant’s injury replacement on the All-Star team is Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis.

The Nets today announced that Durant will remain out through the All-Star break.

Domantas Sabonis picked as injury replacement for Kevin Durant in 2021 NBA All-Star game

Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis has been named by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to replace injured Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant in the 2021 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Earlier today, the Nets announced that Durant will be out through the All-Star break. It’s presumed that this is mostly for precautionary reasons.