Analyzing the New Look Nets Without Kevin Durant

Here's what to expect about of the Brooklyn Nets after the All-Star break.

The Brooklyn Nets return to the hardwood on Friday night for their first game after the NBA All-Star break. The team held their first practice since the break at HSS Training Center in Industry City, Brooklyn. It was the first step in finishing the final 24 games strong and fulfilling playoff expectations.

The organization has four new faces - Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Dorian Finney-Smith - who were all acquired in the two blockbuster deadline trades involving Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. It’s no secret that newly extended head coach Jacque Vaughn and the team have ways to go in terms of forging chemistry due to the seismic roster shake-up at the deadline.

Beyond the process of forging chemistry in the final 24 games of the regular season, there are plenty of other things to keep a lookout for in the borough. Let's take a look:

Breaking Down The 24-Game Schedule

• 24 Regular Season Games: 12 home games, 12 road games.
• Four Back-to-Backs: two home/road, two road/road.
• The Conference Competition: 15 games vs. East, nine vs. West.
• Nine of the Nets’ first 11 games after the All-Star break are on the road. That includes a five-game road trip spanning seven days (3/7 - 3/14).
• 10 of the Nets’ final 13 regular season games are played at home. That includes six of the team’s final seven games.
• The Nets face six opponents twice: Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Orlando Magic.
• The Nets face three teams twice for the first time this season: Nuggets, Rockets, and Timberwolves.

The Nets Closer in the Fourth Quarter?

After the departures of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets are left with no stars to give the ball to when the game really matters. That doesn’t mean the rebuilt roster doesn’t consist of players that hold the ‘closer’ ability. And yes, don’t expect it to be just one player.

“I think it’s still at the end of the day it’s going to be a collective group trying to get us into position to be in a ball game in the fourth quarter,” head coach Jacque Vaughn said after Thursday’s practice. “And like the other night, Mikal probably deserved to shoot the last ball if we needed one to be shot. I’m quite sure Spencer is going to be on that list. We’ve seen Cam Thomas on that list so it’ll be collective. I don’t know if we can pinpoint–say Spencer is going to shoot every game-winner for us. But it’s good to know he has some stats to back up having his name called.”

In Brooklyn’s win over the Miami Heat before the All-Star break, the team went to Mikal Bridges to leave Barclays Center with a momentum-filled W. Spencer Dinwiddie came fingertips shy of having the perfect welcome-back moment in the Nets’ loss to the Philadelphia Sixers. Cam Thomas, who has slowly slid out of the rotation since compiling a historic 40+ point streak, has shown he surely isn’t shy from the big moment. Cam Johnson showed in Phoenix with the Suns that he can take the final shot from behind the arc. That is only scraping the surface of Vaughn’s options.

“I mean we’re all [players] at the end of the day and nobody on this team is scared of [the big] moment. I just think [if] people have it going and I think we’re all going to be ready,” Bridges said. “So it really doesn’t matter Just like I said it’s about who’s hot at the time or something, but nobody’s scared of [the] moment on this team and just everybody be ready.”

Take it from Dinwiddie, who claimed he has the most game-winners in the league currently. In his second stint with Brooklyn, the guard won’t turn down a shot to add to his collection. At the same time, he knows the reconstructed roster holds the potential to spread around the late-game wealth.

“Oh I’m fine. We obviously have a lot of great players. I think Cam’s closed a couple of games as well. I think where you miss the stars is you get the benefit of the doubt, you get calls, and you get a little preferential treatment. Stuff like that. If we’re talking about just hitting game-winners, like the actual shot itself? Oh, I’ve got the most in the league. Aye, most in the league, so you tee me up, it’s a bucket,” Dinwiddie said with a smile. “Same kind of thing in Dallas: it’s kind of maybe the last four or five minutes where you’re gonna miss a star because any bang-bang play or questionable call, a star’s gonna get it. You know what I’m saying, every single time just based off reputation, respect, all that stuff, so that’s where we’re gonna have to be super sharp.

“But in terms of the ability to make the last shot, I have confidence in most of the guys on this team. Joe, Cam, Cam, Mikal — and like I said, most in the league, so tee me up and it’s a bucket.”

Managing the ‘Clax Attack’ 

The All-Star break came at the perfect time for many Nets. Brooklyn’s ‘Twins’ went back to Phoenix to finish up their respective moving processes. Mikal Bridges, who spent the first few days in Utah at All-Star Weekend, went back to the Valley of the Sun to grab clothes, necessities, and his Labrador Retriever.

Outside of the ‘Twins’ finishing up their move to the borough, there was no other Nets that had the All-Star break come around at the perfect time than fourth-year big Nic Claxton. He spent his All-Star break on the Virgin Islands, where his dad and some of his family resides.

It was a well-deserved break for Brooklyn’s starting center. He has put together a career year across almost all statistical categories. Claxton quickly emerged as the Nets’ third-best player when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were on the roster, gaining national notability for Defensive Player of the Year honors.

At the same time, his huge impact on the Nets has come with a high-minute load. In fact, his 29.5 minutes per game is a massive jump compared to his previous three seasons in the borough. He has not spoken with Vaughn about his minutes heading into Friday’s game vs. the Chicago Bulls.

“Yeah, I mean, the numbers [minutes] speak for itself. I played more minutes than I played in my career just this season. I haven't really talked to a JV [Vaughn] about my minutes going forward, but I'll just be ready for whatever,” Claxton said after Thursday’s practice. “The break definitely got me right, though. I feel much better, and I'm excited to just have some fresh legs and see everybody as a group and go out there and see what we can do.”

Claxton’s minutes were on Vaughn’s radar heading into the All-Star break. During the Nets’ beginning stages of experimenting with lineups with the four new faces, the fourth-year big played under 30+ minutes in the final three games. In those games, he only scored in double-figures once (11 points) and did not gather a double-double in any of those contests. 

“I just think we’ve gotta be smart about it. He’s so important to how we want to play. And so hopefully we can do both, whether that is keeping him at the minutes number he was at when he was fresh getting double-doubles for us, but also being strategic, using him in back-to-backs, what that looks like for us,” said Vaughn on managing Claxton’s usage. “Some games, we’ll be dedicated to just — maybe this is a game where he plays less minutes so that we can play the next three at his normal minutes. So we’ll continue to see how he feels, but the most important thing is continuing to keep him fresh for the stretch.”

Jacque Vaughn’s Three Keys

There is no secret Jacque Vaughn’s biggest task fresh into his new contract extension is creating chemistry and cohesion with his new-look group. Of course, while time isn’t on their side, the head coach also has to make sure he doesn’t experiment too much where it backfires against collecting valuable late-season wins.

After Thursday’s practice, Vaughn disclosed what he wants to see out of his group in the final 24 games of the regular season. The three keys he told reporters have been fully relaid and have been a staple at the team’s first practice.

“Attention to detail, focus, and just a general effort,” Vaughn said. “He wants no team to play harder than us. He wants us to impose our will both offensively and defensively just with a level of intensity, and understanding that we’re gonna make mistakes. We’re a group that doesn’t know each other and that’s kind of a way to bypass some of the mishaps that have happened.”