Brooklyn Nets: Game 4 controversies loom large looking ahead to Game 5

2. Brooklyn needs Harris to get right fast

Joe Harris played a big part of the Brooklyn Nets’ 111-102 Game 1 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

Harris was the NBA leader in 3-point shooting this season, so it wasn’t a huge surprise he would have a big game from deep.

The surprise has been what has happened the last three games.

Harris was a non-factor in Game 2, limited to just four shots and scoring only four points. He had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting in Game 3 and did manage to score 10 points in Game 4, but was just 4-for-14 from the floor.

In the last three games combined, Harris is averaging only 7.3 points while shooting 28 percent overall (7-for-25) and has missed all 12 of his 3-point attempts in the process, including an 0-for-6 effort in the Game 4 loss Saturday.

It’s the first time all season Harris has gone consecutive games — much less three straight — without making a 3.

The 76ers have done a good job of covering Harris off screens and the effect has been to throw off his rhythm enough that even when he got some open looks in Game 4, he couldn’t convert.

Harris has struggled, but his teammates are not wavering in their support for the team’s best shooter.

Spencer Dinwiddie told Brian Lewis of the New York Post that their confidence in Harris has not wavered.

"“Joe’s the best 3-point shooter in the league, so we’re going to have the utmost confidence in him to hit. He’s played, what, 75 games, 80 games this year and been the best 3-point shooter in the league. “We’re not going to give up on him now because of three playoff games. That’s not going to happen.”"

One action that has been missing from the Nets arsenal is the stagger screens that involve a big man and a wing each setting screens to help Harris pop open above the break.

Harris is a key player to Brooklyn’s schemes because his shooting is what helps establish the spacing of the offense. When he’s not right, it takes a lot off the table from the Nets’ attack.