CHICAGO – After each game of this series, I’m going to take a look at how the losing team could adjust their tactics in order to try and flip the script in the next game.
So, after the Nets were beaten by the Bulls in Brooklyn Monday night in Game 2, here are three things you could see P.J. Carlesimo try to implement into the game plan when the two teams faceoff in Game 3 Thursday night inside United Center.
1. Adjust to Chicago’s physicality inside
This is going to be the prevailing theme in this series, as it has been in each of the six games the two teams have played (regular season and playoffs) this season.
In the two games the Nets have beaten the Bulls, including Game 1, the Nets have scored 56 points in the paint in each game, and averaged shooting nearly 70 percent in the restricted area. In the four games the Nets have lost to the Bulls, including game two, they’ve averaged 34 points in the paint and shot 47 percent in the restricted area (all stats courtesy of NBA.com’s stats tool).
The Nets knew that after engaging in a never-ending parade to the rim in Game 1 that the Bulls would be instructed by coach Tom Thibodeau – arguably the game’s best defensive mind – not to let the same thing happen again in Game 2, and it didn’t. The Bulls roughed up the Nets inside, turning the game into the kind of slugfest that they need it to be in order to win.
To combat that, the Nets need to fight through that contact and finish at the rim, something they struggled to do for much of the game Monday.
2. Don’t settle for jumpers in transition
Ever since this matchup was set last week, the Nets have repeatedly talked about their need to push the tempo when they can and get out in transition against a Bulls team that has one of the stingiest halfcourt defenses in the league. The Bulls have proven that to be easily their biggest defensive weakness all season long, as despite having the fifth-best overall defense in the NBA this season, according to mysynergysports.com, the Bulls ranked 27th in the league in transition defense.
The Nets took advantage of this repeatedly in Game 1, getting out and running whenever they had a chance, and finishing 8-for-10 in transition situations, including converting seven of their eight shots inside the 3-point arc and going 6-for-6 on layup and dunk attempts.
But the Bulls, thanks in part to having more success at the offensive end in Game 2, did an excellent job of bottling up the Nets in transition, and preventing them from being able to get to the basket. Despite going 5-for-9 in transition situations in Game 2, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range – the Nets only had two layup or dunk attempts in the game, and only converted one of them.
That 10-point difference in layups and dunks in transition would have made up the difference in the score in Game 2, and it’s something the Nets need to try to get back to doing more effectively in Game 3.
3. Get 3-point shooting from their bench
The Nets, thanks to strong performances from both C.J. Watson and Andray Blatche in the first two games of the series, have actually managed to come close to matching Chicago’s bench production the first two games (Bulls had a 39-28 edge in the Nets’ blowout win in Game 1, and a 33-30 edge in Chicago’s win in Game 2).
But, with that being said, other than Kris Humphries, who had eight points and five rebounds in 18 minutes in Game 2, the Nets have gotten next to nothing from the rest of their bench in this series.
The main culprits are Jerry Stackhouse and Keith Bogans, both of whom are in the rotation to provide some defense, veteran toughness and playoff experience, and some 3-point shooting from the corners. Both are providing plenty of the first two things, but none of the third.
In the first two games, Stackhouse and Bogans have played a combined 41:18 and scored a combined four points on 1-for-8 shooting from the field, including going a combined 0-for-6 from 3-point range – all corner 3-point attempts.
Both were solid options from the corners during the regular season, with Stackhouse knocking down 39 percent of them and Bogans hitting 35.3 percent. But Stackhouse is 0-for-5 during the first two games of the series from the corners and Bogans has missed his only attempt, dropping him to 2-for-15 from the corners in his eight games played since April 1, including the final six games he appeared in during the regular season.
The goal for the Nets in every game needs to be to get to 95 points. If they score 95 points in any regulation game against the Bulls, it’s extremely unlikely that the Nets will come away from such a game with a loss. They’ll go a long way towards achieving that magic number if they can get some timely 3-pointers from their veteran wings when they’re in spelling either Joe Johnson or Gerald Wallace, something they haven’t done so far in this series.
tbontemps@nypost.com
