Kevin Durant is still at least another week away from being reassessed, and there’s still no answer as to when the Nets will get him back. But it’s obvious they’re going to have to play a different way to succeed — or even survive — without him.
The Nets are starting to figure that out, a lot faster than they did in last season’s debacle. And just in time for Monday’s visit from the shorthanded Lakers.
Durant is a four-time scoring champ who can get buckets from all three levels, but his Terminator-like efficiency in the midrange can’t be duplicated. He’s so great at it, he makes bad shots look good. But if the Nets are going to stay afloat in his absence, they’re going to have to lean into higher-value shots — 3-point shots.
The Nets buried a season-high 22 of 40 3-point attempts in Saturday’s win over the Knicks, a white-hot 55 percent. And while they can’t count on matching that kind of shooting on a nightly basis, they can control their shot profile. And to win minus Durant, they’ll have to.
“Without a doubt,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “And I wouldn’t mind having 10 more. I say that in the huddle, let’s get 50 up. We have a good enough squad who can shoot the basketball and they have to be respected. [Kyrie Irving’s] ability, that’s why it’s so great to have the basketball in his hands.
“He can attack by himself. He can draw a kick. The defense has to react. So the space was great. If we can shoot 50 [3-pointers], we’ll shoot 50 and be OK with that as long as they’re good ones. What I love is the assist-to-turnover part of it. Just keep the thing simple, not complicating this game. Don’t need to.”
They don’t need to because they have Irving, and a plethora of deadeyes. Now they just have to be deployed correctly.
Irving can get past just about any defender in order to drive-and-kick. Creating clean looks for Joe Harris, Seth Curry, Royce O’Neale and Yuta Watanabe — all over 40 percent from 3 — is their only path to replicate a chunk of their missing scoring.
Brooklyn is 17-2 when shooting 40 percent from deep, and 10-1 when it has made at least 15 3-pointers. But hunting those looks has become more vital.
In losing their first three games after Durant went down Jan. 8 with a sprained MCL, the Nets shot just 28.6 percent (28 of 98) from behind the arc, dead last in the league. But in splitting their last six games since, they’ve hit 46.5 percent (92 of 198), second-best in that span.
“In the team atmosphere when everyone’s collectively firing, it’s a beautiful game to watch and it’s a beautiful game to be a part of,” Irving said. “I didn’t want to cut into the rhythm. I just wanted to make timely shots. My teammates did a great job of getting to their spots, getting to corners, spacing out and just making the game a lot easier for me.”
Part of Brooklyn’s problem when it lost Durant was trying to play the same way. But the Nets’ shooting percentage from 5 to 9 feet away dropped from fourth-best in the league before his injury to 15th since. From 10 to 14 feet, it plummeted from a runaway league leader to just 13th.
But from outside 25 feet, it’s actually gone up. Not only is it a higher-value shot, but with their roster, it’s one they can make. Harris has a pair of 3-point shooting crowns, Curry is the leading active career shooter and Watanabe is hitting 49.5 percent.
The Nets have averaged 18 3s in their wins since losing Durant, and just 11 in their defeats, surrounding Irving with shooters a good path to success.
“Really good,” Vaughn said. “I just think overall we kept things really simple. That showed with the 31 assists, eight turnovers so our ability to share the basketball, play with pace also, spread that thing, drive-and-kick, with space, pretty good to see.”