Nobody’s saying the Nets are better without Kyrie Irving. But maybe they’ll be better for having had to figure out how to win without him.
Bereft of Irving — as well as longer-term injuries to Kevin Durant and Caris LeVert — the Nets have had to rely on team defense. And it carried them to a 103-101 victory over the Knicks at the Garden on Sunday.
“It’s carrying us. We don’t have some of our better players on the court, but we’re still finding a way to win, still learning how to play together,” said Jarrett Allen, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“Good poise. I think our defense kept us in it. Struggled a little offensively, thought we made some 3s,” Kenny Atkinson said. “Credit our defense: third game in a row where we defended really well.”
No coincidence they won their third straight, despite shooting just 40.3 percent.
The Nets are 4-1 since Nov. 15, with the fifth-best Defensive Rating (102.4) in the league over that span.
After Atkinson had talked about needing to have more activity and energy in their perimeter defense, they’ve not only inserted Garrett Temple for the injured LeVert, but signed Iman Shumpert and immediately shoehorned him into the rotation.
The impact has been as obvious as it has been immediate.
A Nets team that came into Sunday having forced the third-fewest turnovers in the NBA (13.1) harassed the Knicks into 19, converting those into 23 points. Allen and backup DeAndre Jordan provided some rim protection, and they’ve defended their way to a 4-1 mark since Irving went down with a shoulder injury.
“Stuff like [blocks] is what keeps the other team from 100 points, and if the other team only scores 100, any NBA team has a chance to win,” Spencer Dinwiddie said. “But when they score 120, 130 it’s questionable if we have the firepower at this moment to consistently play that type of basketball.
“Just understanding who we are and trying to capitalize on our strengths to the best of our ability, that’s it. Obviously people have done a phenomenal job and hopefully they’ll continue to do a phenomenal job.”
Taurean Prince had 14 points, 11 boards and five assists.
After missing the last G-League game with a sprained ankle, Rodions Kurucs was back on the court for Long Island on Sunday. The Nets are hopeful that letting him get his minutes and his game back in order in the G League will pay off for the struggling young forward.
