Nets anticipate tough going in Minnesota despite absence of Jimmy Butler
Nets guard D'Angelo Russell, left, drives against Warriors guard Quinn Cook during the first half of a game in Oakland on Saturday. Credit: AP/Jeff Chiu
MINNEAPOLIS — The Nets’ offense stalled in a blowout loss to the Warriors on Saturday night and so did the momentum from a three-game winning streak, but that’s what happens when you’re playing the second game of a back-to-back against the two-time defending NBA champions.
The question now is how they rebound on the last stop of a four-game, cross-country road trip Monday night at Target Center, where they will face a Timberwolves team that is reeling after trading Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia.
“We want to be greedy on this road trip,” D’Angelo Russell said after the loss to the Warriors. “We got what we got. We lost tonight, on to the next, and we’re trying to get that one. End the road trip off right.”
Until they ran into the Warriors’ offensive firepower and smothering defense, the Nets had a right to feel good about the growth they have shown this season. Their three-game winning streak included a blowout victory at home against the 76ers, a road win over the Suns and a last-second upset on the road of a tough, division-leading Nuggets team.
In the wake of the Butler trade, which is not expected to become official until Monday, the Nets find themselves with a golden opportunity to go 3-1 on their road trip.
The T-Wolves ended their contentious relationship with Butler by sending him and Justin Patton to the 76ers for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a second-round pick in 2022. Covington and Saric, both starters, are the key players in the deal, but a Timberwolves spokesman told Newsday that it’s uncertain whether they will be available against the Nets.
“They’ve still got a lot of talent over there, a lot of guys capable of stepping up in [Butler’s] place,” Russell said.
Indeed, the Timberwolves still have star center Karl-Anthony Towns and top-notch perimeter players Andrew Wiggins, Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague and Tyus Jones. But the acrimony between Butler, who asked for a trade at the beginning of training camp, and his former teammates took a toll. The T-Wolves, a playoff team last season, went 0-5 on their recent West Coast trip to drop to 4-9.
“They added two good players in Saric and Covington,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “They got some shooting. You never know how these things work out. They’re a good team, supposed to be a playoff team, and Minnesota is a tough place to play. We’ll have our work cut out for us.
“I want to see how we bounce back from this. I think it’s an important game to test our character.”
Joe Harris, who scored 24 points, shot 9-for-12 and was one of the few Nets to play well against the Warriors, said momentum can be regained just as easily as it was lost. “We’re 100 percent focused on Minnesota,” he said. “They had some [trade] stuff happen. We’ll see how that shakes out with their new acquisitions, but we’ll have a recovery day and we’ll be ready to compete.”
Notes & quotes: Caris LeVert banged a knee in the third quarter and did not return against the Warriors but said, “I’ll be fine for the next game.”
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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