Player grades: Nets turn the ball over 27 times in 127-119 preseason loss to 76ers
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets played their third game of the preseason against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday at Barclays Center and lost 127-119.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 18 points and four rebounds while Royce O’Neale had 13 points and five assists off the bench. Trendon Watford had 13 points and Lonnie Walker IV scored 13 points.
For the 76ers, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 21 points and four rebounds while Tobias Harris had 18 points and nine rebounds. Paul Reed had 18 points and De’Anthony Melton had 15 points.
In the first half, it was a domination by Philadelphia as Brooklyn could not stop turning the ball over. The Nets turned the ball over 18 times, resulting in 22 points for the 76ers. Philadelphia shot a better overall percentage because of their ability to get whatever they wanted in the painted area.
In the second half, Brooklyn tightened things up on both ends of the floor as they started stringing together good offensive possessions in succession. Most of the starters came out of the game for good in the fourth quarter, but not before they made the game interesting.
Here are the player grades for Brooklyn’s preseason loss on Monday:
Ben Simmons: B-
Still looks physically okay, but seems to have had trouble protecting the basketball in this one. He has not been shooting the ball much, even when he’s the advantage in the post or when going to the rim. Simmons is one of those players who can have his game determined by his emotions, but once he gets locked in, he can be borderline unstoppable. One of the things that Simmons did well in this game was let the game come to him and stop trying to force the ball through tight windows.
Spencer Dinwiddie: C
When Dinwiddie is in the game, it looks like he has the burden of trying to create for his teammates, similar to last season. So far in this preseason, Dinwiddie has proven that he is a top-two creator on this team and it shows in the offensive flow. Dinwiddie’s defense is usually solid, as was the case in this game, and he seems like one of those players without a glaring weakness on either end of the floor.
Cam Thomas: B-
This was an interesting game for Thomas. Some of the areas that Thomas was tasked with improving upon was defense and playmaking. While Thomas has been working harder on the defensive end, it seems that the tenacity that he needs to be an effective on-ball defender is not there. When it comes to playmaking, Thomas still has some work to do as he still seems to struggle with decision-making within certain actions like being the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. However, it should be mentioned that Thomas turned around his offensive game in the second half as he started to string together some good offensive possessions and looked to be more confident in what he wanted to do with the ball.
Dorian Finney-Smith: B
Finney-Smith is going into another season where it seems that he is who he is at this point of his career. He is a guy who is going to spot up for three-point shots and play effective defense on players that would be on the wings and some smaller big men. The one thing that seems to be an issue for Finney-Smith is his shooting. For whatever reason, his shooting has been off ever since he came to Brooklyn despite getting a good amount of open looks. To that point, Finney-Smith did have a sequence in the second half where he got hot from deep and it demonstrated what Brooklyn’s offense can look at when shooters are hitting their normal looks.
Nic Claxton: B+
Claxton had some impressive moments in this game despite how lopsided it was in the first half. Claxton, who is tasked with being the anchor of the defense, has made some nice plays as the big man in drop coverage. While teams like the 76ers have players like Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey who can take advantage of that kind of defensive scheme, Claxton has done a great job of using his length to bother shooters and still cover the rim at the same time. On offense, Claxton is showing some signs of improvement, including putting the ball on the floor and going to the basket.
Lonnie Walker IV: C-
Walker came off the bench and did what he was brought in to do: to score. Walker showed the ability to get to the rim against multiple defenders and he seems to have worked on finishing strong at the rim, especially for a guard. Walker’s role within the offense will be to do what he can on the offensive end of the floor and whatever comes in the way of playmaking and defense is a bonus. Walker will struggle with inefficiency and turnovers at times due to the nature of his game, but he is a player who can make a significant impact on the offensive end.
Royce O'Neale: B+
This game showed what the Nets get from O’Neale when he is hitting his three at an efficient clip. As a player who gets the majority of his points from deep, O’Neale has to be hitting his threes in order for him to make an impact on the offensive end of the floor. While he is an effective passer, that role is being taken care of by other players on the team. O’Neale is a player that Brooklyn can turn to when it comes to taking care of other things like rebounding and passing the ball to the open man.
Day'Ron Sharpe: B
Sharpe played extended minutes for the first time this preseason and looked good in his time on the floor. While Sharpe has a ways to go when it comes to offensive production, he does what the team needs from him at this time. Sharpe has to work on his hands and that didn’t seem to be a problem in this exhibition game. Similar to last season, Sharpe has to be better with playing with force in the paint and using his strong frame to his advantage. It seems that Sharpe knows where he has to be, but isn’t moving fast enough to get there sometimes.
Darius Bazley: C
Bazley is one of the players that head coach Jacque Vaughn wanted to see get some extended minutes to see where he fits within the team. For the moment, Bazley seems to be one of those players that will do everything he’s asked to do the best of his ability, but he doesn’t have a defined position. It is well known that Bazley is competing with players like Harry Giles III, Trendon Watford, and Royce O’Neale for playing time as a backup frontcourt player and so far, he may be falling behind in that competition.
Trendon Watford: B
Watford has a unique skill set in that who can be one of the initiators in an offense as a big man. Jacque Vaughn has shown confidence in having Watford have some say in what happens within the offensive set. As this game showed, Watford can also play as a big man when needed and he had quite a performance on the boards. Along with Watford making some threes, he could be one of the players that Brooklyn keeps on the roster due to his offensive versatility.
