Kevin Durant has complete confidence in himself and his unique talent. Whether back-and-forth with the media or responding to team drama, he constantly repeats his mantra: “I just want to jump.”
“I just wanna hoop” is short for Durant’s preferred offense. During the first two games of the series, Nets coach Steve Nash only plays a variation of Doug Collins’ legendary game to beat the Cavaliers. “Give the ball to Kyrie or KD and run away.” These Celtics aren’t the ’89 Cavs, however.
Nash rolled the ball out there and had it operated on an island. Durant’s success will always be compared to Golden State’s due to his unorthodox decision to walk away amid their dominance. But the contrast has never been more apparent than now, with the Warriors averaging a playoff best of 131.7 points per 100 possessions and appearing like the team to beat again. Meanwhile, Durant’s nets are staring at a 2-0 hole after Durant scored 27 points while losing just 27 percent of his field goals.
It didn’t have to be that way, even after Durant left California. After winning two titles at Golden State and then playing briefly in a third, Durant signed with the Nets and expressed disapproval of Kerr’s vaunted moving offense.
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“The motion offense that we operate in the Golden State only works up to a point,” Durant told dem of the Wall Street Journal JR Moehringer. “Perhaps we can fully rely on our system in the first two laps. Then we have to shuffle the next two rounds in single play. We have to kick teams out because they are smarter in this round of the playoffs.
“So now I have to dig deep in my pocket to create stuff myself, away from dribbles, isos, pick and rolls, more than letting offense create points for me.”
All the off-the-ball movement lessons from one of the most flawless offenses of all time were left there. Dynamic offense moves the ball around and creates an abundance of easy shots that force all five defenders to stay in constant motion, creating mistakes for offense to pounce on and keeping their stars fresh. Star player hero ball should not be the basis for all four quarters. At one point, Durant decided to feast on structureless isolation kits, and this series is the bloated, flatulent aroma.
Nobody puts KD in a corner. He’s getting exactly what he wanted against the Celtics with the rock in his hands. However, the Nets’ offense fell short when the Celtics clogged lanes or interfered with his natural ability to conjure buckets.
Set plays and off-ball movement are anathema to the Nets offense, arguably Durant’s penchant. Brooklyn rarely causes offense from screenswhile Golden State continues to set the standard for use She.
The Nets have run more iso sets than any playoff team except Philadelphia, and Golden State runs the second least.
As a result, Brooklyn is only averaging 18 assists per night in its first-round streak, the second-lowest assists per game of any playoff team. It’s also leaps and bounds worse, aesthetically and statistically, than the league-high 30 assists Golden State averages against Denver. Given the defensive quality and staff, Boston is a different breed. In the fourth quarter against Boston, however, their offense was reduced to Durant or Irving, who generated hero ball shots.
Durant’s iso-rate has increased to 23 percent since his regular season, when he shot 51 percent in isolation. In the playoffs, the Celtics defense annoyed him to shoot a dreary 10 percent off the field in iso sets.
Irving was better, but only because Durant’s game set the bar low. Irving’s isofrequency increased from 21.8 percent to 32.6 percent from regular season to postseason. Durant’s turnover rate of 20 percent in isolation is the second worst of any player with more than three possessions per game, just ahead of James Harden’s 19.2 percent.
Against a solid defensive lineup, the Nets offensive’s over-reliance on the save ball was exposed. Even without Robert Williams to cover their Tubberware defense, the Celtics have contained the nets. The tenacity of Marcus Smart, Grant Williams and Jayson Tatum takes its toll on Durant, but Nash is slow to counter. At every difficult Durant jump, nine other players stare at him like the millions at home.
Shot selection also needs to be addressed. In two games, the Nets attempt as many pull-up jumpers as they attempt catch-and-shoots. The Nets pick up 37 unassisted pull-up jumpers per game and make just 36.5 percent of their shots. Meanwhile, Brooklyn shoots better than all 15 of his playoff peers in assisted catch-and-shoot triples but attempts fewer than anyone else in the field.
That was the problem in Oklahoma City, where Thunder’s Velco offense for Durant and Westbrook messed things up. During his last three years, the Thunder have been bottom four in passes per game each season. Contrary to Irving’s theories about the shape of the earth, Time is a flat circle and Durant is doomed to repeat history alongside a capricious point guard operating in a stingy scheme based on individualism.
