Player grades: Lonnie Walker IV has 23 points as Nets lose to Heat 122-115
The Brooklyn Nets visited Kaseya Center on Thursday to face the Miami Heat and lost 122-115.
For the Nets, Lonnie Walker IV had 23 points and three rebounds off the bench while Mikal Bridges had 23 points and five assists. Nic Claxton had 16 points and Cam Johnson had 16 points.
For the Heat, Jimmy Butler had 36 points and five rebounds while Duncan Robinson had 26 points and two assists. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 10 points.
In the first half, both teams played even for much of the half and neither team could separate much from the other with some big plays made by both sides. However, Miami used a 14-0 run to end the quarter leading Brooklyn 60-52.
In the second half, Miami took control of the game thanks to Butler starting to take control of the game on the offensive end of the floor. Once Butler got going from the field, that allowed players like Robinson and Adebayo to take advantage of the extra attention that Butler drew to have more points of their own.
Here are your Nets player grades for Thursday’s loss:
Spencer Dinwiddie: C+
Dinwiddie was not too involved in the Nets’ offense as Brooklyn’s shots were distributed well across all of the players that made an appearance in this game. Dinwiddie mostly just chose to handle in the pick-and-roll to make plays for his teammates off of that action. However, Dinwiddie was effective in running the pick-and-roll as he either found Nic Claxton for some nice lobs or he drove to the rim and drew some fouls.
Mikal Bridges: B
Bridges looked to be at ease on the offensive end of the floor. He didn’t take many shots as he’s been prone to do when he gets going shooting the ball from the field. Bridges had his game working from the mid-range and from deep and he was doing a great job of cutting without the basketball to set up some of his baskets. Bridges also did a good job of taking care of the basketball when he began his dribble as that is something that he can improve on to increase his scoring ability.
Cam Johnson: B
Johnson had a rough game in this one to say the least. While he shot the ball well, the reason that the game was rough for him was because of the foul trouble that he got himself into. Similar to what Nic Claxton went through in Tuesday’s game against the Magic, Johnson just couldn’t find a way to stay out of foul trouble no matter what he tried. However, Johnson did a good job of being effective on the floor during his limited time in terms of rebounding and playmaking for others.
Dorian Finney-Smith: B-
Finney-Smith played well on the offensive end of the floor despite not putting up as many points as fans were accustomed to in the beginning of the season. Now that Cam Johnson is back, Finney-Smith is essentially only seeing the ball whenever Spencer Dinwiddie, Mikal Bridges, or Johnson can’t find anything using screens or on their drives to the basket. However, Finney-Smith did a great job of remaining patient and ready on the offensive end while sticking to his role of rebounding and playing effective defense on players like Jimmy Butler.
Nic Claxton: B+
Claxton was great in this one as he accepted the challenge of going against Bam Adebayo and did not back down at any point. As has been mentioned before, Claxton does not have many plays ran for him so he has to find ways to score on offensive rebounds or when he has a smaller player on him in the interior. Claxton also had some moments where he put the ball on the floor and either made a nice post hook or drove by his man to get to the basket. Claxton did his part to hang with Adebayo in the paint in rebounding situations and he was such a deterrent at the rim all game long.
Day'Ron Sharpe: D+
Sharpe had a rough time shooting the ball in this one, but his effort on the glass should not be understated. Sharpe does not have much offensive game at this moment in his career, but he doesn’t need it to be in order to contribute for this Nets team. His job is to set solid screens, carve out space in the paint, and be ready for a dump-off or an offensive rebound so that he can score his points easily. He did not make many of those shots in this game, but he has normally been dependable in those areas.
Royce O'Neale: D
O’Neale did a solid job on the offensive end of the floor even though his three-point shooting was worse than he’s used to doing. O’Neale is one of Brooklyn’s players who has to shoot the ball well if the Nets are going to have an effective offense so when he doesn’t, Brooklyn will have a tough time getting enough shooting from other players to make up the difference. One thing to point out is that while O’Neale had a tough time guarding Jimmy Butler, he did a great job of making plays for others within the offense.
Trendon Watford: D
Watford did not play much in this one as Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn decided to go elsewhere on the bench once Miami went small with Bam Adebayo out of the game. He made a nice move to the rim during his short time on the hardwood, but other than that, he did not do much else on the floor.
Dennis Smith Jr.: C-
Smith did not have a good shooting game in this one as he couldn’t get much going driving to the rim. He did shoot well from deep on limited shots, but other than that, his offensive impact came from making plays for others as opposed to scoring. Smith got into a tussle with Jimmy Butler as a result of how physical Smith was on the defensive end throughout this contest.
Lonnie Walker IV: A
Walker was incredible in this one as he couldn’t miss from inside the three-point arc. Walker has been awesome for the Nets to begin this season due to his unique blend of speed and athleticism that allows him to get whatever shot he wants on the floor. Unfortunately, Walker could not get much going from the three-point line, but other than that, he had a great game for Brooklyn on both ends of the floor.
