Max Kellerman goes off on the James Harden-era Brooklyn Nets and their abysmal defense and says that they won’t even make the NBA finals.
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The Brooklyn Nets have had one of the most interesting seasons this year, if not the most. In order to acquire James Harden from the Houston Rockets, the Nets had to give up their presence in the paint in Jarrett Allen and a solid perimeter defender in Taurean Prince, in addition to Caris LeVert.
The Nets are now running thin on the defensive end of the floor, and it shows. They boast the worst defensive rating in the league ever since the Harden. No matter who the opponent has been, they simply cannot seem to keep them from scoring.
On the upside though, the Nets have an offensive rating that’s 4 points higher than their defensive rating. So a simple and obvious formula to their success would be to outscore their opponents. Having offensive juggernauts in Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving should make this task quite easy. Max Kellerman’s opinion on this seems to differ.
Max Kellerman doesn’t believe James Harden and the Nets can make the NBA Finals
With a substantial chunk of games played by each team, it is sort of clear what each team is going to be come postseason. Max Kellerman seems to have assessed the Nets and prophesised that they won’t even get out of the Eastern Conference.
He claims that the Nets Playoffs woes will all be triggered by the fact that they have little to no personnel on the defensive end of the floor.
The Nets have had their moments on defense, though. A perfect example would be last night’s game against the Clippers. James Harden, in particular, showed that if he committed himself to that end of the floor, he can get you stops. He had some fantastic defensive possessions against Kawhi Leonard and was frisky, trying to swipe the ball away multiple times.
Kevin Durant still needs to work on his perimeter closeouts. He carelessly left shooters open without worrying about contesting the shot. Overall, the Nets definitely turned it up on defense against the Clips and had some crucial stops.
The 2000-01 Lakers are the only team in recent memory to win a title with a sub-par defense in the regular season. The Nets will have to go against the grain to get their first-ever NBA championship.
