Player grades: Spencer Dinwiddie scores 28 as Nets lose to the Knicks 124-106
The Brooklyn Nets invaded Madison Square Garden on Monday to take on the New York Knicks and lost 124-106. Brooklyn leads the regular-season series 2-1.
For the Nets, Spencer Dinwiddie had 28 points and four assists while Cameron Johnson had 14 points and four rebounds. Nic Claxton had 11 points and Dorian Finney-Smith had nine points.
For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson had 40 points and five assists while Josh Hart had 27 points and five rebounds. Julius Randle had 18 points and Immanuel Quickley had 14 points.
In the first half, both teams were shooting the ball well. Brooklyn is still trying to figure out how to run its offense with all of the new players. Brooklyn had a tough time stopping Brunson, Randle, and Hart.
Things got away from the Nets in the third quarter as Brunson scored 17 points in the period to lead the Knicks to being up by 10 points by the end of the quarter. Brooklyn struggled to generate good offense. Things got worse in the fourth quarter as the Nets unraveled on both ends as Brunson shredded the entire defense.
Here are your Nets player grades:
Spencer Dinwiddie: B-
Dinwiddie did a good job of scoring the ball in this game. He was awesome in the first half despite letting his emotions get the best of him by drawing a technical foul for mouthing off at the ref. He struggled with his shot in the second half as it looked like the weight of running the offense appeared to wear on him. Dinwiddie was aggressive all night long, but after some time, it was hard for him to create offense for himself or others.
Mikal Bridges: C
Bridges struggled with his shot all night long. He’s been a good shooter throughout his career, but it looks like Bridges will have to get used to creating his own offense more often than he had to in Phoenix. He did a good job of helping out on the boards and he had some nice moments setting up his teammates with good passes when they were open. However, Bridges turned the ball over a bit too much for how little the ball was in his hands.
Cameron Johnson: C+
Johnson did a good job of shooting the ball in this game, but he struggled with his shot from behind the three-point line. He did a good job of helping as a rebounder on the glass, but his defense left a little to be desired as he was unable to do much to slow down Jalen Brunson.
Dorian Finney-Smith: B
Finney-Smith was lights out shooting the ball in this contest. For the first time as a Net, he is showing the value that he brings to the team as a three-point shooter when he’s open. He did a great job of helping out with the rebounding. He had a tough assignment tonight as he spent most of his time guarding Julius Randle and had trouble guarding Randle without fouling.
Nic Claxton: C+
Claxton struggled to finish at the rim over the course of this game. He did a good job of getting to the free-throw line, but is still a work-in-progress from the charity stripe. He did a good job rebounding while battling with Julius Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein all night long. Claxton did not have his usual impact on the defensive end in this one and that may be why he didn’t play his usual minutes.
Joe Harris: C-
Harris took only one shot in this game, but he made it. Other than that, he was not a major part of the offense when he was in the game. He brought some value passing the ball and finding open teammates, but his defense was awful in this one.
Day'Ron Sharpe: C+
Sharpe did a good job of scoring the ball in this one. He did a good job of getting to the free-throw line, but he struggles to shoot free-throws as well. Sharpe did a good job of mixing it up in the paint when it came to rebounding the ball so that was nice to see. However, Sharpe’s defense was okay at best in this contest.
Ben Simmons: D
Simmons did not shoot much in this game as he continues to refuse to even look at the rim. While he did not play much in this game, he was able to provide some value on the glass and by pushing the pace and finding shooters in transition. What is most damning of all, Simmons did not look interested in competing in this one as he let Josh Hart drive all the way to the rim after turning the ball over.
Royce O'Neale: C
O’Neale did a good job of shooting the ball in this one. Despite his shot going on, as was a theme for tonight, he did not get many attempts. He gave a good effort getting on the glass, but other than that, he did not do anything else well.
Cam Thomas: D
Thomas struggled with his shot in this one. He did a good job of getting to the free-throw line by being aggressive with his dribble. Thomas has cooled off considerably from his stretch of scoring following Kyrie Irving’s trade request.
