FILM STUDY: What’s causing the offensive droughts plaguing the Brooklyn Nets?

Mar 23, 2023 - 3:33 PM

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Nothing about the loss the Brooklyn Nets suffered at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first game of this mini-series at the Barclays Center was, well, ground-breaking. The Nets struggled to score the ball, they were on the wrong end of an excellent strategy most people refer to as “having an offensive superstar”, and a team that cannot afford any slippage slipped just a bit too frequently. But we knew that these would all be issues when these Nets were constructed, or rather, emerged from the rubble last month.

The Nets’ two best offensive players are Spencer Dinwiddie and Mikal Bridges. As frustrating as Dinwiddie’s game can be, Brooklyn really needs him on the court to have a chance at scoring. Because as joyfully surprising as Mikal Bridges’ consistent scoring as a Net has been, he can’t be a main driver of productive offense just yet. These numbers may not feel true, but nevertheless...

• Lineups with Dinwiddie, no Bridges: 116.5 offensive rating, 68th percentile (Cleaning the Glass)
• Lineups with Bridges, no Dinwiddie: 100.8 offensive rating, 1st percentile (Cleaning the Glass)

Of course, Dinwiddie plays most of his minutes with Bridges, and those lineups have a tough time scoring too, for the same reasons that the Nets struggle to score with him off the court. Those reasons are just exacerbated when Dinwiddie leaves the court. Regardless, scoring droughts like the one Brooklyn had against Cleveland on in the second quarter on Tuesday, where they scored six points in six minutes, are killing them. Why does this keep happening?

To answer that, I watched the tape, so you don’t have to. Enjoy!