In today’s NBA, the three-pointer has elevated itself from novelty–the three-point line was first introduced in the 1979-80 season, although the ABA used it since its 1967 inception–to one of, if not, the most efficient shots a player can take in basketball. Yet, for the 2014-15 Brooklyn Nets, it has been the exact opposite.
Through their 69 games, the Brooklyn Nets have made just 32.4 percent of their three-point field goal attempts, which is good for fourth-worst in the NBA, behind the Hornets, Nuggets and 76ers. However, for overall field goal percentage, Brooklyn is in the middle of the pack (16th) with a 44.9 percent conversation rate.
But when you look specifically as Brooklyn’s 40 losses, the three-point percentage dips to below 30 percent–to 28.2–which is only second-worst to the Grizzlies, who make just 26 percent of their threes in losses–although they have lost only 20 times this season. In wins, the Nets shoot over 10 percentage points better from long distance (38.5 percent is tied with the Jazz for 12th-best).
Clearly–as evidenced by the Nets’ brutal 1-for-17 showing from three in Monday’s home loss to the Celtics–this team has a hard time winning games when it doesn’t make three-pointers.
There’s no real way to determine specifically why the Nets are so prone to these awful shooting performances, especially at home where Brooklyn’s 32.1 percent mark from three is third-worst in the league, but it’s a pretty defined weakness that if the team can improve it, it would be a significantly better team.
Already this season, the Nets have posted sub-25 percent performances from three in 19 games–in which the team went 2-17, with 11 of the games on the road. Turn just five of those awful shooting nights into decent ones, and maybe Nets wins, and Brooklyn would be 34-35 and firmly in the postseason. Too bad that isn’t real life.
How crucial triples are for the Nets has been clearly demonstrated in their last two games, Saturday’s win over the Pacers and the recent, crushing loss to the Celtics.
In the Pacers game, the Nets took a 12-point lead in the second quarter before blowing it all in the third. Then, they rolled off eight consecutive points to start the final frame, regaining a 96-87 lead and taking control of the game. How did the run start? With a Bojan Bogdanovic three off a bit of a decoy screen by Thaddeus Young.
Bojan scored 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting that night, continuing his strong post-All Star play. Problem is that between Saturday and Monday, he lost his touch, going 3-for-14 from the field (0-for-4 from three) two days ago in Brooklyn’s 110-91 loss to Boston.
Multiple times during that game, such as at the 10:11 mark of the fourth quarter, Bojan–and his teammates–had wide open looks from deep, which could have helped the Nets cut into their deficit, but missed them, often badly. Bogdanovic had a chance to get the Nets within six points with more than enough time left for a comeback. He failed, and less than two minutes, the Celtics were up 14 and running away with an important win.
Now, two games is obviously too small a sample size to draw massive conclusions from but it underlies Brooklyn’s severe shooting splits between wins and losses. Good teams find ways to win when the shots aren’t falling and the Nets’ inability to do so is a big reason as to why they’re 11 games under .500.
Another reason for Brooklyn’s sudden offensive droughts has been their fondness–this season, not in others–for the much-maligned pullup jumper.This can be attributed to Jarrett Jack, who has an irrational obsession with the pullup, even though it has been one of the team’s worst shots.
A tick over 25 percent (25.1 to be exact) of the Nets’ shots have been considered pullups–according to the NBA’s shot-tracking statistics–but the team has an atrocious 37.9 eFG% on these shots, compared to their overall 48.8 percent. This is fourth-worst pullup eFG% in the NBA even though the Nets are 12th in the league in pullup field goals attempted per game. The three teams below the Nets in pullup eFG% are all in the bottom half of shot attempts of this type, while the Nets are in the top. Not a good combination.
This trend isn’t much better when looked at for just three-point pullups, either. 5.2 percent of Brooklyn overall field goal attempts have been pullup threes, on which the Nets have made at a “sizzling” 22.1 percent clip. The next worse team–the Heat–are almost three percentage points better.
A stunning 52.5 percent of Jack’s shots come via the pullup. You might think this would be his most accurate shot, due to the high quantity of them he attempts. That would be a false assumption. His eFG% of 40.2 on pullups is worse than that of his eFG% on catch-and-shoot and shots taken inside 10 feet (the only other two categories).
So, to recap, the Nets–per 100 threes taken–make over 10 more threes in wins than in losses and, in 19 games (17 losses), have made less than a quarter of their three-point attempts. Also, over 25 percent of their field goal attempts are of the pullup variety, shots on which they are among the worst in the NBA at in terms of efficiency.
No wonder so much of the Nets’ struggles have come on awful shooting nights, especially considering how many ill-advised shots they take are pullup jumpers.
All statistical support from NBA.com/stats. Game logs from Basketball-Reference.com were also used.
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