The Nets' Big 3 played just eight games together in the regular season, and after five more in the first round against Boston, James Harden left Game 1 versus the Bucks less than a minute in due to a hamstring injury, and is out indefinitely.
Big 2? No problem, because after a blowout 125-86 win in Game 2 Monday night – a game the Nets led by as many as 49 at one point – Brooklyn is up 2-0 in their series, and Kyrie Irving feels like a sweep could be in order.
"I think we're capable of greatness every single night, it just depends on the approach we have coming in," Irving said after the win. "Throughout the regular season, I feel like we would let our guard down playing against some of the teams in our league, and they would punch us in the mouth and we would come in and talk to you guys after the game about what happened. I think we just figured out the little things in terms of how to create separation within the game and remain resilient throughout."
Resilience has been a theme for the Nets all year, who signed and then lost LaMarcus Aldridge mid-season after a heart issue forced his retirement, and saw their Big 3 miss 40 percent of the possible games they could've played – Irving (56 games played) and Durant (35) missing good chunks of the season, and Harden playing only 36 of a possible 59 games on Brooklyn's schedule after he was acquired.
That works in the team's favor, however, as everyone up and down the roster has stepped in and played significant minutes. That was on display in spades in Game 2 with Bruce Brown, a late-offseason acquisition who was third in games played (65) and fifth in starts (37).
Brown was a lockdown defender on Khris Middleton in Game 2, and on the offensive end, he contributed 13 points, six boards, and four assists.
"Bruce just comes in and plays extremely hard. Me and Ky talked about it once we got Bruce, that playing against him the last two years, nobody really knew him in Detroit," Kevin Durant said after the game. "But when you play against him and you got him in the scouting report, he kind of disrupted our flow when I was in Golden State a bit, one game. I was like 'who is this kid?' But we knew he played with extreme passion and intensity. He wasn't playing for us early, but whenever he got a chance, we knew he was going to come in and make an impact."
Defense hasn't been the Nets' strong suit this year for sure, but Brown held Middleton to 7-for-20 shooting, and over two games, Middleton is 13-for-43 while two-time defending MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to 18 in Game 2 after dropping 34 in Game 1.
"The guys have worked hard at it this year, trying to find our best level defensively," head coach Steve Nash said. "What works for us, How we can refine it and improve it. Tonight was exceptional, but our defense has been pretty solid throughout the playoffs."
That said, Nash wouldn't dismiss Kyrie's initial statement, but he did caution to keep looking at the next game, and not too far ahead of behind.
"Whether you win by two or you win by 25, it's just one game," Nash said. "We held home court, we performed well in the two games. For our group, we want to keep growing, keep getting better. We're still very new to one another, and so there's a lot of things we can continue to refine and improve. We'll go and try to keep improving in Milwaukee."
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