Brooklyn Nets HC Jordi Fernández Credits Defense for Miami Heat Win

The Brooklyn Nets are now 18-34 after a 102-86 win against the Miami Heat, with head coach Jordi Fernández praising the team’s defense and ‘next man’ mentality for Friday night’s result.

He said: “I think the effort defensively was on-and-off, but then that fourth quarter, I think that it was consistent, and I think that Nic [Claxton] and Day’Ron [Sharpe] both did a tremendous job being the anchor of our defense.” 

Claxton finished with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with two steals, four blocks and one assist. The Brooklyn big has had a slow season so far, but he’s shown signs of turning things around recently. Over his last 10 games, Claxton is averaging 10.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 blocks. 

Sharpe, meanwhile, had nine points, six rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes against Miami. Both of the Nets’ centers were reportedly available for trade earlier in the week, but the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline passed without Brooklyn making any further moves. Sharpe will be a restricted free agent this summer.

“Once again, their communication, being aggressive in their coverages, and that’s just contagious,” Fernández said about his bigs. “That’s the reason why, that fourth quarter, it felt like we were everywhere. We even blocked three-point shots without fouling. Winning the fourth quarter on defense is important.”

The Spanish head coach had previously mentioned the importance of staying connected and communicative on defense. The Nets blocked 13 shots on Friday night, with seven different players adding a number to that column in the box score. Fernández said after the game that he wants his team to keep getting stops and taking shots early in the offense.

“Sometimes, the defense fuels your offense,” he said. “It allows you to run. 20 fast break points. We challenge the guys to take more early shots, because those are higher quality shots.”

An important contributor to the Nets’ win was Trendon Watford. Brooklyn outscored Miami 31-9 in the fourth quarter, and Watford scored eight of his 12 points in the last period. The former LSU standout finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

Fernández said: “It was great because we all know Trendon is multipositional. He can play […] off-the-ball, he can post-up, he can run pick-and-roll. All those things, as a coach, it’s like a privilege to have a player that you can move [and] do different things [with]. We asked him to run the team, and he did a great job. Vocal, engaged and he scored when we needed him to. […] Amazing job. We’ve been having this ‘next man’ mentality and we know that he can do it and he stepped up and really helped the team to win the game.”

Watford had previously missed 21 straight games due to a left hamstring strain. He returned on Jan. 29, and has averaged 7.8 points, four rebounds and two assists in 18.6 minutes in the four games he’s played since.

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