Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson has been one of the main players of the “new-look” Nets as the team tries to stay in the playoff race and avoid the play-in tournament. Johnson, along with this teammates, were expected to be a team that played tough defense and scored by committee.
In Wednesday’s 142-118 loss to the New York Knicks, Brooklyn was anything but those characteristics. While Johnson had 33 points and two rebounds in the losing effort, the Nets allowed the Knicks 60.7% from the field and 57.1% from the three-point line. At one point in the game, New York was shooting above 70% in both cases which shows how bad Brooklyn’s defense was in this one.
After a first quarter in which the Knicks won the period by 18 points thanks to some awesome shot-making, New York was unable to dominate any of the other three quarters in the same fashion. However, the cushion that the Knicks built was too much for the Nets to overcome even as Brooklyn shot the better after the first quarter. Johnson gave his take on what the team’s priority is as it tries to finish the season strong:
“I really think the main thing is going to be just defensively. I think that first game against Philly was really solid. So, it just shows you that nothing’s ever a perfect process. I think there’s times against Atlanta, against Milwaukee, even tonight, where we were doing what we wanted to do on defense and, you know, plan the way we wanted to play. Like I said before, I sound like a broken record. But, if we continue to cut down on those bad stretches, cut down on those runs that these other teams are making on us, it’s just chunks of game where you pull out, and it’s a different story. But, when we learn to manage that better, when we learn to communicate, guard, understand better, which we will, the results will be a little different.”
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