Mikhail Prokhorov didn’t get his money’s worth from Deron Williams, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in Game 2 against the Miami Heat.
After Williams posted a scoreless game, ESPN’s Bill Simmons ripped Brooklyn’s franchise player after the putrid performance.
“Brook Lopez had a better game tonight than Deron Williams,” Simmons said.
The criticism for Williams was warranted after the $100 million man posted a donut in the scoring column, but he isn’t the only person who should be called out for his poor play. Heck, Ray Allen has outplayed Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce through the first two games of the series as well.
Williams’ nine field goal attempts Thursday night were the most he’s taken without a make, or a point, in any individual game in his career. This also marked the first time Williams was scoreless in 60 career postseason games.
The last time Williams failed to score a single point was Jan. 30, 2006 against the San Antonio Spurs.
“I thought he had some great looks,” coach Kidd said. “Some were just around the rim, but the other thing I thought he did well was he set the tone. He was attacking, getting the ball in the paint. He had seven rebounds and six assists so we look for him to bounce back in Game 3 with making shots, but I thought overall his game was really good.”
Williams gave a more honest assessment of his own performance.
“I couldn’t buy a bucket and couldn’t get to the free throw line,” Williams said.
After looking spry and energetic in Game 1, his ankles betrayed him in Game 2, providing him little lift or explosiveness following his crossover dribble.
This is not the player Brooklyn originally acquired in a trade with the Utah Jazz in 2011 for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and two first-round picks before signing him to a maximum contract.
With each passing game and ankle injury, it appears less likely Williams will ever return to the form that had him in the conversation with Chris Paul as the league’s best point guard.
You don’t pay someone $100 million to be “really good,” which was a comical description at best from Kidd. You pay a player a nine-figure salary to be your franchise star, which Williams no longer is due to his deteriorating ankles.
“I think he’s fine,” Pierce said. “He’s a competitor. He knows how to bounce back; he’s done it his whole life. He’ll be fine.”
While the target will always be on Williams’ back due to his $100 million salary, it does not exclude Garnett and Pierce from blame as well.
Allen, Garnett and Pierce’s sworn enemy since signing with the Heat in 2012 after leaving the Boston Celtics, has single-handedly outscored his old teammates (32-25) through the first two games of the series.
After scoring 28 total points in four regular-season games against the Nets while shooting 29 percent (8-28) from the field, Allen is now shooting 61 percent (11-18) from the field and 58 percent (7-12) from downtown through the first two games of the series.
“You can consider him one of the best shooters in the game of all-time with Reggie (Miller),” Kidd said. “You can never count out Ray. He’s a competitor.”
Conversely, Garnett and Pierce are shooting a combined 34 percent (10-29) from the field through the first two games of the series.
At 38, Allen looks as fresh as ever running around screens off the ball and getting open 3-point looks from the corner thanks to pin-down screens near the baseline.
At 37, Garnett moves laterally at a snail’s pace and can’t make change-of-pace cuts instantly on defense as he once did.
Similarly, Pierce has found it harder to separate from his defender on spin moves, fadeaway jumpers and drives to the basket off the dribble at 36.
Down 0-2, Brooklyn knows there is no margin for error.
“We’ve got to go home and take care of home court,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to stay confident, keep talking to one another, stay positive and keep having each other’s back. This series is far from over. We go home and hold down our home court, I think we can do that.”
Brooklyn needs Williams to win the point guard matchup with Mario Chalmers, Pierce to stretch Miami’s defense and Garnett to anchor the paint if they want to turn the series around quickly before it’s too late.
As Pierce would say, that’s why the Nets brought them all to Brooklyn.
Michael Scotto is an NBA columnist for SheridanHoops.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
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