Spencer Dinwiddie needs to take the big shots for the Nets

At the end of overtime in Monday night’s game, Spencer Dinwiddie had a chance to give the Brooklyn Nets the lead. With four seconds on the clock, Allen Crabbe kicked the ball to Dinwiddie at the top of three-point arc. He drove and tossed the ball over the backboard.

Spencer Dinwiddie had an open shot. With four seconds left, and Fred VanFleet a good five feet away, Dinwiddie had an open, yet distant three. In most cases, driving to the hoop would be a better option. But, it is not when there are three defenders lurking near the hoop, especially with one of them being Serge Ibaka.

More from Nothin' But Nets

In this case, playing hero and shooting from beyond three-point range would have actually been smarter. He received the ball of an assist from Crabbe. If you take a look at his numbers, Dinwiddie converts on 56.3 percent of three-pointers coming off of assists. He also connects on 37 percent of his threes from the top of the arc. In a vacuum, the shot had more than a 50 percent shot of landing and winning the game.

However, basketball is not played in a vacuum and there are a ton of factors to add up. Dinwiddie looked like he was about 28-30 feet away from the basket. At that distance, Dinwiddie actually makes threes at a more efficient rate than when he is closer to the bucket. From 25-29 feet, Dinwiddie coverts on 36.1 percent of his shots, compared to shots taken from 20-24 feet, where he makes 31.7 percent.

The numbers support Dinwiddie’s case, but what about his role? At this point, Dinwiddie is a leader. After all, he has taken a starting role that was forced onto him and flourished in it. He might not have a reputation for being the most clutch player in the league, but a leader needs to dictate the end of a game.

So, what’s stopping him from taking that hero shot? Perhaps it’s confidence. His three-point percentage falls from 30.8 percent to 22.2 from when the Nets are either up or down 5 points with three minutes left to play to one. Granted, it is an extremely small sample size with 13 attempts and 9 attempts respectively.

Either way, Dinwiddie needs to be the man. If it means throwing up a bomb from long-range, then so be it.