The 10-14 Brooklyn Nets have lost four of their last five games heading into tomorrow’s road match up against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Nets’ head coach Jordi Fernández was bluntly critical of the team’s defense after Sunday night’s 118-112 defeat against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Barclays Center in which they had a 12-point lead with a little over three minutes left in the third quarter and a five-point lead with just under four minutes in the fourth.
Fernandez specifically noted the Nets did not effectively pressure the ball and were out of balance on defensive rotations. “The reality is in the last three minutes of the third and the last six minutes of the game, I believe it was a minus 19 for us,” Fernandez said. “Our defense was atrocious, and if our guys that wear a Brooklyn Nets jersey don’t play harder defense, they don’t have a place in our roster, and they know it. They take pride in defense and we are going to watch film.
“That’s how you win or lose games in the NBA. We didn’t guard anybody in the last three minutes. In the last six minutes. Last three of the third. Last six of the fourth. We have to be better.” One of the positives was Nets center Nic Claxton, who is averaging 9.8 points per game but scored a season-high 21 on Sunday, earning the praise of Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers. “You know he’s absolutely a great role player for a basketball team,” Rivers said. “He defends the basket. He’s one of the rare good rollers. We don’t have enough rollers in the league. I think if you ask every coach in the NBA, they would beg to have one great big roller that can catch the ball and finish, and he does that.” Fernandez has been commendable shaping and developing the Nets young players, and keeping the team competitive through the early part of this season. He’s navigated injuries to key rotation players, most prominently leading scorer Cam Thomas (24.7), who has missed seven games and is currently sidelined with a left hamstring strain. Small forward Cam Johnson has picked up some of the scoring slack, averaging a career-high 18.8 points per game.
Following the Grizzlies, the Nets will face former head coach Kenny Atkinson, who has the Cleveland Cavaliers holding the best record in the NBA at 21-4.