Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from offensive loss to Bucks

1. Shot selection by Brooklyn simply abysmal

With Spencer Dinwiddie joining Caris LeVert and Allen Crabbe on the sidelines six games ago, the Brooklyn Nets have struggled offensively. With Joe Harris also out on Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Nets were going to be hard-pressed to create much scoring at all.

They did not help themselves by the shots they were choosing to take.

Contested 3s early in the shot clock? You bet. Wild drives into the paint into multiple defenders? Let’s do it!

As for moving the ball side-to-side to get the defense moving? There wasn’t much of that.

Instead, there was DeMarre Carroll firing up a contested 3-pointer above the break with 16 seconds left on the shot clock. Or a pull-up 3 from well beyond the arc by Theo Pinson … with 16 seconds left on the shot clock.

Pinson did himself one better late in the first half when he got a defensive rebound and fired up another pull-up 3 just six seconds into the shot clock and 37 seconds showing on the game clock. There’s trying to get a two-for-one and then there’s just … wow, really?

In their last six games, the Nets are now 2-4 with an offensive rating of 99.7 — second-worst in the NBA in that span, with only the New York Knicks at 96.4 faring less successfully.

Brooklyn’s effective field goal percentage since Jan. 25 is now at 44.8, the worst in the NBA during that time frame.

What’s being wasted is a Herculean effort defensively by the Nets, who are third in the NBA with a defensive rating of 103.6 over the last six games.

The Nets may have gotten some good news on the health front, with reports that both LeVert and Crabbe are scheduled to practice with the team’s Long Island G-League affiliate this week.

Shabazz Napier started at the 2 for the Nets in place of Harris, who was replaced by Crabbe at the 3 so he could replace LeVert at the 2.

Napier has been terrific for the Nets as a spark plug at the fourth guard spot, but the higher in the rotation Napier goes, the most quickly his flaws get exposed.

D’Angelo Russell has been pressing a bit since being named an All-Star last week and he’s also not helped by the personnel shortages.

At this point, the Nets will happily take a 2-2 mark over the next four games to stay above the .500 mark with the idea of getting healthy over the All-Star break.