Preseason Opener Takeaways: First look at Nets ‘Big 3’ went as expected against star-less Sixers

The first game of the Nets’ new ‘Big Three’ era had its ups and downs against the Starless Sixers It was a team, but ultimately fulfilled most of Steve Nash’s hopes for the preseason opener.

“Overall I’m happy and I think it’s all very new. We have to go through this. They need time together,” Nash said after the preseason loss. , talked about what the big three on the team look like.

“Ben is playing a completely different unit and a different style. It can be ugly, but as the second half progressed, we started to get a glimpse of the possibilities with how the ball moved, how to corner the basketball defensively, etc. I thought I had grown into

Without James Harden, Joel Embiid, PJ Tucker and Danuel House in Philly, the Nets came close to overcoming a 20-point deficit, but the Nets sat down Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons in the second half. A supporting cast was not possible. You have to cross the rest of the hill. Final score: 127-108, Philly.

Before the Nets’ first of four unofficial contests, Nash said the team’s “Big 3” minutes would range from 15 to 20 minutes. Ultimately, preseason he ended up with each player his 19 minutes of action in his two quarters of basketball.

Kevin Durant paved the way for scoring for Brooklyn’s dynamic trio, finishing with a quiet 13 points (4 of 8 from the field, 1 of 4 from 3-point range) and 4 goals in 19 games. Combined board and 4 assists. minute.

“It felt good. It’s always nice to be able to play basketball,” Durant said after the preseason opener. “It’s the best job anyone could ask for, so I’m just grateful to have had the opportunity. I am excited.”

Kyrie Irving, who focused on facilitation early in the game, had 9 points, 4 boards and 4 assists in the same amount of time. In Irving’s eyes, even with a preseason loss and just six days of training camp, he can sense just how dangerous Brooklyn’s offense is.

“Yeah, we feel that way,” said Irving. “But we don’t want to be complacent at any point this preseason or the beginning of the season because we know the funkiness will happen regardless of where some games look better than others. But we just want to keep calm and limit games where the ball hops and everyone touches it. Nothing beats doing it.

“Compared to last year — this is probably the last time I’ll be talking about comparisons to last year, probably because it’s a new year — but there were a lot of random isolations and Ben was able to play 1, 4, 4. 5 adds some dimension to our aggression.I think what makes us dangerous is our ability to be flexible, adaptable, and selfless.

“So we know what he has to do and we are aggressively aware of our talent, but this year instead of using all our energy to get the bucket, We want to make the game easier for each other.”

Of Brooklyn’s star trio, it was Ben Simmons who attended Monday night’s game and had the most attention on him and his game. Simmons, who took the court for the first time in 470 days, was welcomed to his hardwoods at Barclays Center with the biggest starter introduction out of his 13,250 crowd before chips. He said after the game that he wasn’t nervous in his first match in over a year. Instead, he was full of excitement and felt great.

Speaking of how he felt after making his debut with the Nets on Monday night, Simmons said it was “amazing.” it was fun.”

During halftime, the 26-year-old split-time handled rocks, created open teammate looks (with a few nifty passes), and even played a few minutes at 5 with a small ball pairing. — This is the position Simmons is working on. , especially with new personnel around him.

“It’s just a different way of reading it and you’ll be able to adapt to it better,” Simmons said of playing 5. But we are doing it. This is what the preseason is for. I think it’s good. ”

Simmons, whose final fit remains unknown, finished the preseason opener with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and steals in 19 minutes. It went scoreless on its only trip to the line (0/2) with the team.

“Honestly, it felt like a normal match,” said Simmons, who faced his former team. “First preseason game. First game in a long time. Honestly, it wasn’t on my mind either.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Simmons also got halftime advice from Irving.

“I said to him, ‘I’m going to make the game easier, regardless of what you hear when you play high-level players.'”

It didn’t take long for the Nets’ trio of superstars to click offensively. Despite having a series of passes, I found my teammate open outside the perimeter. His first points as a net came from his dunk in transition facilitated by Irving in which he recorded three assists in his first four minutes of action. Durant, on the other hand, had a quiet scoring frame, scoring only 6 points on 1-of-4 shooting from the field.

“I mean, a new look? I don’t know.” Durant said of Brooklyn’s claimed new offensive twist, “Just find the rhythm in there and grab your feet. Glad Ben’s back, Ed. I’m glad to be back, I’m glad Joe is back after a tough surgery.So when we step in, everybody finds exactly what they want to do there.I think we’re in good shape.But , it can take days, preseason games, weeks in most cases, but I think the players are on the right track.”

Despite Brooklyn’s attack, the home team failed to catch the separation. That was largely due to their lackluster perimeter defenses. That was the main difference maker in the early days. Nets — shot 1/9 from 3-point territory first — Sixers had a total of 14 3-point shots, going 8/14 (57.1%) from outside the arc — first counted 24 of 42 – 1/4 point. At the end of one, Brooklyn he trailed 42-26 and the big three combined gave him 12 points.

Second, the Nets offensive unit consisting of Irving, Durant, Patty Mills, Joe Harris and Nick Claxton began to find a much-needed groove. His triple hits from Mills and Irving gave Brooklyn his 14-0 win, reducing the gap to his five points (55-50) with 5:24 remaining. The deficit quickly returned to 10 and Brooklyn ended the first half with small balls (Irving, Harris, Durant, Simmons and Royce O’Neal).

“Well, defensively, I think we had a lot of hard, physical, well-played pockets,” Nash said. Very early on, there’s a lot to work on, every day is an important day for this group and things are very new to each other, but I hope you’ll be able to see some of the work we’ve done this week from time to time.

Brad Penner – USA TODAY Sports

Brooklyn brought out a supporting cast to wrap up the second half of the preseason contest. The coaching staff looked at their time on the court and paired and matched with each available player. O’Neal, who entered the net for the first time off the bench, scored his 12 points, followed by Edmund his Sumner who put together a solid performance of 12 points and 3 rebounds in his 15 minutes of play. Yuta Watanabe scored 11 points. The Nets head coach was also pleased with O’Neill and Sumner’s play.

“Royce, I think he will be a great addition to us. Incredible IQ, sense of the game, both sides of the ball. — It’s great to see him back on the floor after a nasty injury. I thought he could play off-the-ball, and he gives us some athleticism.”

The Nets will face the Heat on Thursday night, also at Barclays.