Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from 107-102 loss to Knicks

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BROOKLYN, NY – OCTOBER 3: D’Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets handles the ball against the New York Knicks during a pre-season game on October 3, 2018 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

PG. Brooklyn Nets. D'ANGELO RUSSELL. B. 20 MIN, 11 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, -15

First the positives for D’Angelo Russell.

He was decisive with the ball, slicing aggressively into the lane for some runners and floaters and dropping a couple of slick dimes, including a deft bounce pass to Jarrett Allen in the lane for a powerful dunk and a no-look feed to a cutting Caris LeVert along the baseline for another flush.

He struggled, however, with his shot. Russell was just 1-for-4 from 3-point range and 4-for-12 overall, as his touch just wasn’t there Wednesday night.

Russell is a good enough scorer that it can be written off as a bad night.

More encouraging, though, was that he was looking for open teammates and openings to create for himself and took them without hesitation.

He also played turnover-free, a huge win for a player who has had a tendency to be loose with the orange over his first three seasons.

Defensively, he’ll never remind anyone of Tony Allen, but his effort was solid, even if his positioning was a bit off at times — giving too much space to shooters at times and overcommitting to shooters and getting blown by a couple of other possessions.