DeAndre Jordan, Nets showing fourth-quarter stopping power
Nets center DeAndre Jordan dribbles the ball against the Suns in the second half at Barclays Center on Feb. 3. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
INDIANAPOLIS — Never mind that the Nets let the defending NBA champion Raptors score 100 points in three quarters without injured starters Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol on Saturday night in Toronto. What the Nets did in the fourth quarter is the formula for success they must apply for the final 29 games of the season, starting Monday night at Indiana.
Caris LeVert, who scored a career-high 37 points in a one-point loss, isn’t always going to have a 15-point fourth quarter. But backup center DeAndre Jordan brought the defensive toughness the Nets needed down the stretch to hold the Raptors to 19 fourth-quarter points on 27.3 percent shooting (6 of 22).
Jordan not only held Raptors center Serge Ibaka to zero fourth-quarter points, but he helped Wilson Chandler against All-Star Pascal Siakam, who had three points on 1-for-5 shooting.
Asked if defensive toughness has to be the Nets’ theme for the rest of the season, Jordan said, “Absolutely. After the break is when teams turn it up another notch. That’s what we have to do as a unit. We need every win we can, hopefully, going into the postseason.
“You’re not going to shoot the ball well every night. But we can compete every night, we can talk every night. That’s just an effort thing. For us, you see it in spurts. So, whenever we can put it together for a long period of time, we’re pretty tough.”
LeVert said the next two games before the All-Star break, at Indiana and then a rematch with the Raptors Wednesday night at Barclays Center, are critical. Jordan, who had six points and six rebounds in the final period at Toronto as part of a 15-point, 14-rebound performance, showed he can be the Nets’ enforcer, which is why they passed on a reported trade offer by the Rockets for him.
“He was huge down the stretch for sure, playing great defense on Pascal, rebounding, finishing around the rim, setting great screens,” LeVert said. “He’s going to be a big part for this team.”
Describing the key to a strong finishing kick, LeVert added, “I think playing defense like we did in the fourth quarter. We allowed 19 points. If we play defense like that, our offense is good enough to sustain a win.”
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said the Nets "have plenty of firepower,” and he praised the tandem of LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie, who had 21 points, 11 assists and zero turnovers, for the way they get to the rim. When leading scorer Kyrie Irving returns from a sprained right knee, the Nets will have more than enough offense.
Jordan is new to the Nets, but he saw what LeVert did last season. “No disrespect to D’Angelo [Russell] when he was here before Caris got hurt, but I was like, ‘Damn, [LeVert] may have a chance to be an All-Star,' ” Jordan said. “He was playing like their best player . . . He’s already important, but when he’s 100 percent healthy, he’s that much more valuable for us.”
If LeVert continues his upward trajectory and the Nets embrace defense like they did in the fourth quarter at Toronto, that is a winning formula.
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
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