NBA Player grades: Lonnie Walker scores 26 in Nets’ 121-99 loss to 76ers
The Brooklyn Nets welcomed the Philadelphia 76ers to Barclays Center on Sunday and lost 121-99.
For the Nets, Lonnie Walker IV had 26 points and six rebounds while Mikal Bridges had 18 points and three assists. Spencer Dinwiddie had 12 points and Nic Claxton had 10 points.
For the 76ers, Joel Embiid had 32 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists while Tyrese Maxey had 25 points and 10 assists. De’Anthony Melton had 21 points and Tobias Harris had 10 points.
In the first half, both teams played to a standstill as neither team could gain separation from the other. In the second quarter, Philadelphia ended the period with a 20-5 run in the final four minutes to go into halftime with a 61-49 lead.
In the second half, the wheels fell off of any comeback bid that the Nets were hoping to make as they could not stop turning the ball over. More to the point, Tyrese Maxey started getting going in the third quarter and the 76ers never looked back before winning the game 121-99.
Here are your Nets player grades following Sunday’s loss:
Spencer Dinwiddie: C-
Dinwiddie did not have one of his best offensive games of this season as he couldn’t buy a bucket throughout the game. Despite Dinwiddie’s overall ineffectiveness shooting the ball, he did a great job of driving to the rim and he was rewarded with free-throws as a result. Even with Ben Simmons and Cam Thomas out right now, Dinwiddie is still picking his spots when it comes to when he looks for his shot and when he looks for his teammates.
Mikal Bridges: C-
It may be too early in the season to say this, but Bridges may have had the breakthrough offensive game that the Nets fans have been looking for. He was not only hitting his patented mid-range jumpers, Bridges was also making his three-pointers that seem to be harder for him to hit this season. The cool thing to see from Bridges was his ability and willingness to cut backdoor to create some space within the various offensive sets that the Nets were running.
Cam Johnson: D
Johnson struggled shooting the ball in this one as he couldn’t get much to go from anywhere on the floor. It didn’t seem like Philadelphia did anything special to give Johnson difficulty with his shots; Johnson just couldn’t get a good feel for his shooting tough against the 76ers. Johnson may still be working his way back from his calf injury, but he most likely just had a rough time shooting the ball. He did a good job of competing on the boards and doing what he could to fend off Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris on the glass.
Dorian Finney-Smith: D
It’s a shame to say this, but Finney-Smith has significantly cooled off from his shooting/scoring pace that he was on to begin the season. More than that, Finney-Smith is currently on a cold streak when it comes to him shooting three-pointers and you can tell that Brooklyn is trying to limit how many times he shoots until he gets his touch back. Finney-Smith has been doing his part on the defensive end and rebounding so that he is still valuable to have on the floor.
Nic Claxton: C+
Claxton had a solid game on the offensive end as he was finishing lobs well, but was also using some good footwork in the post when the opportunity was there. Claxton is not going to have many plays ran from him other than him being involved in designed pick-and-rolls. While his defensive presence wasn’t as strong in this one as it has been at various points this season, Claxton did a good job of staying engaged on the glass and trying to limit how many offensive rebounds that Joel Embiid grabbed.
Day'Ron Sharpe: C+
Sharpe did not do much in this one as he had the tough task of guarding Joel Embiid at various points of this game. Sharpe did a serviceable job of limiting what Embiid did on the offensive end, but Embiid is an MVP for a reason. With that being said, Sharpe did a good job of battling with Embiid on the glass and defending the rim to cover for when one of his teammates had been beaten to the rim.
Lonnie Walker IV: A+
This has been said many times already this season, but Walker was incredible in this game. It seemed like he couldn’t miss no matter where he shot the ball from and he was electric all game long, starting with his dunk over four 76ers players. What has made Walker so great for the Nets this season is his ability to make almost any kind of shot and the fact that he doesn’t seem to have any limitations on the offensive end. To add even more value, Walker collected a good amount of rebounds and he jumped to the sky on some of them.
Royce O'Neale: C
O’Neale did not score in this one, but he did plenty of other things over the course of this game to provide value to the Nets. While O’Neale should be letting threes fly as one of the team’s best shooters, he surprisingly did not shoot a three in this one as it looked like he focused more on doing the other things for the team. O’Neale actually did a little bit of everything for Brooklyn in this one despite how lopsided the score was for most of the contest.
Trendon Watford: C
Watford did not have the best shooting performance in this one as he couldn’t get much to go from the field aside from some floaters in the lane. He did provide some value by helping in the rebounding department and by dishing out some nice assists as well. Watford could be an option for the Nets if the passing is not where it needs to be since he’s pretty good at that and that could prove to be necessary soon enough with the injury that Ben Simmons is trying to come back from right now.
