Player grades: Cam Johnson scores 27 in Nets’ loss to the Hawks 129-127
The Brooklyn Nets paid a visit to State Farm Arena on Sunday to take on the Atlanta Hawks for the third time this season and lost 129-127. The Brooklyn Nets lead the regular-season series 2-1.
For the Nets, Cameron Johnson had 27 points and three steals while Mikal Bridges had 24 points and five rebounds. Cam Thomas had 22 points and Spencer Dinwiddie had 20 points.
For the Hawks, Trae Young had 34 points and eight assists while Dejounte Murray had 28 points and four assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 22 points and John Collins had 12 points.
In the first half, Brooklyn started poorly as they allowed Atlanta to build an 18-point lead. The Nets were unable to get anything going from the three-point line and could not stop the Hawks from getting any shot they wanted. In the second quarter, in part thanks to Cam Thomas, the Nets were able to get back into the game by pushing the pace and shooting efficiently from the field.
In the second half, this game became much closer as the Nets finally showed what their defense could do when on the same page. Brooklyn still had trouble defending the guard tandem on Young and Murray, but they were able to bother them enough to string together stops and slowly climb back into the game. In the end, Young had a hit a tough shot at the end of the game to beat the Nets.
Here are your Nets player grades:
Spencer Dinwiddie: C+
Dinwiddie did not shoot the ball well in this game at all. Part of his inefficiency issues is settling for off-the-dribble jumpers instead of trying to drive to the basket and make something happen that way. When he did try to break down his man, Dinwiddie was able to make something happen for his teammates or get to the free-throw line. He did a good job of passing the ball and using his vision to find teammates with open shots. Defense was passable.
Mikal Bridges: B+
Bridges did a great job of scoring the basketball in this one. He was unable to get much going from three-point land, but he had success with his mid-range game and getting to the free-throw line. Bridges did a good job of rebounding the ball and he brought some value to the table by having some nice dishes in this one as well. He played great defense in this one as he tried his best to limit Trae Young and Dejounte Murray.
Cameron Johnson: B
Johnson did a wonderful job of scoring the ball in this contest. Like most of the Nets, Johnson could not find a rhythm from behind the three-point line, but he was able to score in multiple way outside of that. He did a good job of rebounding while trying to help teammate Nic Claxton compete with the likes of John Collins and Clint Capela on the glass. Johnson’s defense was solid in this one.
Dorian Finney-Smith: B+
Finney-Smith did a decent job of scoring in this game against the Atlanta Hawks. The three-ball was not working for him in this one, but he contributed in other ways. Finney-Smith did a great job of getting after it on the boards and he played good defense in this contest.
Nic Claxton: A
Claxton had a good performance in this one for the first time in awhile. Leading up to this game, Claxton appeared to hit the wall as he was playing more this season that he did at any other point of his young career by far. Even though he did not score much in this one, Claxton made his mark on every other part of this game. He was all over the glass and his defense looked like another one of his DPOY performances that he was having in the beginning portion of this campaign. Claxton fouled a bit too much in this one though.
Cam Thomas: B+
Thomas did a good job of scoring the ball in this one. As usual, Thomas was in his bag of mid-range shots and acrobatic finishes. He did a good job of passing the ball in this one and he was crucial in constantly putting pressure on the Hawks defense which led to great things for the Nets.
Joe Harris: F
Harris had a tough time shooting the ball in this one. The guy known for being one of the best three-point shooters in the league was unable to buy a bucket from that range. That may have been the reason that he only played six minutes in this affair.
Seth Curry: D-
Curry did not shoot the ball much in this one. His main value for Brooklyn is putting points on the board and if he isn’t doing that, there’s not much else he brings to the table. Head coach Jacque Vaughn may have seen that as Curry played only seven minutes in this exhibition.
Royce O'Neale: B
O’Neale did a great job of shooting the ball in this one. He was essentially lights out from three-point range and he was critical in helping the Nets come back from a 18-point deficit to make this a game. He did a good job of rebounding and his defense was solid against the Hawks.
