For Nets, resting players was a good idea — just not against the Bucks
Mikal Bridges of the Nets looks on late during the fourth quarter against the Nuggets at Barclays Center on Friday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
WASHINGTON, D.C. — For the past two weeks, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn has noted that his team is worn down. He said it last week after a 1-4 road trip and repeated it again Tuesday in Detroit.
“We’ve been wearing some guys pretty thin this early in the year, unfortunately, and tonight definitely the toll added up,” Vaughn said after a Dec. 18 loss at Utah closed the trip.
That rest came Wednesday. Starters Nix Claxton, Cam Johnson and Spencer Dinwiddie were inactive and Mikal Bridges, Royce O’Neale and Cam Thomas sat out the final three quarters of the Nets’ 144-122 home loss to the Bucks.
It wasn’t all that surprising; plenty of teams rest key players in back-to-backs. What was surprising was that Bridges went on record voicing his displeasure with not finishing the game.
“Didn’t like the choice and whatever that was,” Bridges told reporters after the game. “But it’s whatever. Definitely was not a fan.”
Bridges is the NBA’s active leader in consecutive games played with 423. Pride aside, he expressed what every NBA player desires — to play the game and play to win.
If anything, he reminded observers why fans should never be upset at players for resting. It’s always a team decision and it goes against players’ nature as competitors.
As a strategy, what the Nets did made sense. Johnson and Claxton sat for maintenance reasons because of early-season injuries. No NBA rules were broken; it didn’t violate the league’s new protocol for resting star players because the Nets have only one player — Ben Simmons — who made an All-NBA or All-Star team the previous three seasons.
Wednesday also was the Nets’ second back-to-back in less than a week
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“To get two days in between games and to allow guys to really get off their feet and off the court and hopefully have some juice for tonight is huge, especially with our schedule going forward,” Vaughn said Tuesday.
The Nets won’t blame fatigue, but any fan can see they have tired legs and have become a worse rebounding and defensive team. It’s sound logic to use a back-to-back to rest.
But doing it Wednesday sent a bad message. The Nets played the Bucks close at home in November, albeit with Simmons, who currently is injured.
Yes, the Bucks won nine of their previous 11 games before Wednesday and yes, the Nets were 6-12 (now 6-13) against teams over .500. But long odds or not, the games should always be decided on the court, not a spreadsheet. A win could’ve become the signature game this team needs while hovering around .500.
Instead, it signaled a concession before tip-off
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The Nets’ upcoming schedule — six games in 10 days — makes their decision more reasonable. The middle four games are at the Thunder, Pelicans and Rockets and a home date with the Thunder — all teams with winning records.
It’s easy to see why the Nets acted in their best interest. It’s also easy to see why Bridges was upset.
Yet the Nets’ biggest mistake wasn’t angering Bridges or resting players. It was doing so against a contender and conceding another opportunity to measure up. It’s still just one game out of 82, but it deserves criticism, even if the rest was warranted.
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
