Are Nets giving up too many three-point shots?

ATLANTA — Trae Young took a page out of Mikal Bridges’ playbook after making a 36-foot three-pointer in overtime Wednesday. He pointed at Bridges and bobbed his head, mimicking Bridges’ celebration.
  It was, however, just Young’s second three-pointer since the first quarter. The Nets gave up 43 points to the Atlanta guard in their 147-145 loss but held Young to 2-for-9 shooting on threes after he made six in the opening period.
  That’s an issue the Nets have faced during this three-game losing streak and ever since their loss to Boston on Nov. 8. They’ve given up a lot of three-pointers but not on a high percentage of makes. The Hawks, for example, made 18 three-pointers but shot just 25% after halftime.
  It’s a tradeoff coach Jacque Vaughn is willing to accept if it keeps teams from getting into the paint.
  “I don’t think it’s a concern to the point where we need to change what we’re doing,” Vaughn said. “Maybe some of the shots [should be more] contested. But going into games, if we’re going to get beat off the bounce with threes, that’s just going to be part of it. We got to keep people away from the rim.”
  Over the last four games, the Nets gave up 65 threes — more than any team except the Hawks — and allowed teams to shoot 39.4%, which is 21st out of 30 teams. Take it back to the Celtics loss six games ago and they’ve allowed a league-worst 94 threes.
  However, teams have shot 36.4% in that six-game span, good for 11th in the league. That’s why the Nets aren’t concerned about teams making threes as much as who’s shooting them or if teams aren’t hitting them at a high clip.
  “You got to take it with the scheme,” Cam Johnson said. “Obviously, you don’t want to give up easy ones, open ones. We got to continue to play our principles and as we get better with it, we’ll be able to take away some of those easy ones a lot more and make everything contested.”
  The problem is the last four games hint at looming trouble. The Nets are guilty of over-helping to defend drives, and as a result, they’re giving up more open shots.
  According to NBA.com, the Nets allowed 25.8 wide-open threes per game over the last four games, shots in which the closest defender was at least six feet away. It’s the second-most over that span and teams have made a league-high 11.3 shots per game on the Nets.
  It’s not reassuring for Saturday’s matchup with the Heat, who are fourth best in three-point percentage.
  The Nets chalked some of it up to still figuring out communication and fine-tuning the scheme Vaughn wants. Bridges wouldn’t hear of it; he said the Nets need to just get stops and rotate quicker to avoid giving up certain looks.
  Johnson added that the season is still early and there’s time to figure things out. But for a Nets defense that’s garnering more scrutiny, giving up too many threes is another sign things need to get fixed soon.
  “Offense in the league is good, so you’re gonna have to give up something in some kind of way,” Johnson said. “But it’s a small sample size, you know, long season. Everything is under review. We got coaches, players that are willing to adjust, adapt and figure out problems. We’ll be all right.”

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

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.