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Kevin Garnett boxes out Pacers’ Ian Mahinmi but the Nets are struggling to grab boards.
Kevin Garnett took a deep breath, exasperated about the question and the insinuation that he’s anchoring a frontline struggling to box out. He wasn’t eager to address the elephant in the box scores.
“If I knew that my man, I don’t think we would have that problem, you know what I’m saying?”
The Nets, a team lauded for its size in the preseason, have been outrebounded in six straight games, with the last two turning downright frightening off the glass.
In Friday’s blowout defeat to the Thunder, Brooklyn (20-25) — which is 29th in the league in rebounds per game — set an NBA record for futility by grabbing just 17 boards (not a typo, 17!). A day later, they were outrebounded by the Pacers, 46-27, extending the Nets’ losing streak to three heading into Monday’s game at home against the 76ers.
The Nets’ 10-1 start to January has quickly eroded into a fight to stay within striking distance of the division-leading Raptors, while the Knicks are inching closer to second place.
“It’s been a tough week,” guard Joe Johnson said. “We need to get some of our chemistry back, like we had earlier in January. Us as guards have to help guys rebound. That’s about it. When we go with a small lineup against a big team like Indiana, everybody has to chip in.”
As much as the Nets love their small-ball lineup — and there has been reason to celebrate its merits considering Brooklyn started 11-1 after its implementation — this is the downside of having Paul Pierce at power forward and Garnett at center.
They’re more athletic, for sure, but the Nets are vulnerable inside, outscored in the paint by a combined 44 points during their three-game losing streak.
Coach Jason Kidd has clearly lost all faith in Reggie Evans, the NBA’s most efficient rebounder last season, who has played a combined 23 minutes in the last 11 games. He’s too much of a liability offensively. Kidd has given those minutes to Mirza Teletovic, who is more comfortable on the perimeter and not a good matchup against a big team such as the Pacers.
But there is short-term good news for the Nets: their next opponent, the 76ers (15-33), has been tanking lately, with 12 losses in its last 15 games. Brooklyn is also hoping for the returns of Andray Blatche and Andrei Kirilenko, who both missed Saturday’s game with minor injuries.
Pressed about the Nets’ rebounding struggles on Saturday, Garnett took a deep breath and reluctantly said Brooklyn gave a better effort than it did on Friday.
Neither effort was good enough to beat two of the best teams in the league, but the Nets’ schedule lightens up before the All-Star break (four of the next six games are against the Sixers, Pistons, Pelicans and Bobcats), and Garnett decided to accentuate the positive. “I thought the effort was totally valid,” he said. “We just have to keep playing like this.”
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