Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from heartbreaking loss at LA Clippers

3. Brooklyn’s bigs were eaten alive by the Clippers’ frontcourt

Boy, the Brooklyn Nets had no answer for Montezl Harrell.

Harrell was everywhere on the court for the Clippers. The backup big scored 20 points on a tasty 8-of-17 shooting line. His brute force was especially problematic for Jarrett Allen.

It was almost too easy for Harrell to push Allen out of his defensive stance to create wide-open layups and dunks. Harrell also took advantage of Allen’s unwillingness to leave the painted area and elevated for a crisp 15-foot jump shot and a gorgeous 10-foot leaning push shot.

Harrell’s intensity on offense clearly forced Allen out of his comfort zone. On the offensive side of the ball, Allen missed a few clutch shots including a wide-open layup deep into crunchtime.

One has to wonder if Harrell’s play affected Allen’s confidence  — so much so that he whiffed on an open bunny.

Allen was so bad on defense that he was borderline unplayable. Looking back it, perhaps Ed Davis should have seen a longer look. Davis played in only 18 minutes.

This summer, Allen’s main goal should be to bulk up and add muscle. As it stands, it’s too easy for opposing centers to dislodge him while battling down low. Harrell did just that and more against Brooklyn’s second-year big man.

Harrell wasn’t the only Clipper to drop a twenty-piece on the Nets. Danilo Gallinari was also dominant and finished with a 20 point, 11 rebound double-double.

Now, Gallo is always a mismatch when he’s on the floor. He’s a 6-foot-10, 228-pound small forward who can put the ball on the hardwood and drive. Gallo is also a very capable shooter who rains in threes at a 44.2 percent clip.

Brooklyn, frankly, doesn’t have a single plus defender to throw at Gallinari. Even though he had an off night from deep (1-of-5), the Italian ballplayer had no issue with scoring points in bunches against the Nets’ helpless defense.

Gallo scored on seven of his 12 two-point shots to cap off a ridiculously efficient night.

For the umpteenth time in a row, it was clear that Brooklyn was missing a capable power forward to match LA’s size. Hindsight is 20-20, but it sure would have been nice if Sean Marks had swung a deal for a burly stretch 4 at the trade deadline.

In fact, the Clippers’ very own JaMychal Green would have been the perfect fit for this type of a role. The asking price for Green sure wasn’t high, so it’s a shame that Marks failed to take a swing at acquiring the stretchy, 6-foot-9 power forward.