Brooklyn Nets: 5 takeaways from a goring at the Garden

2. Russell and that whole consistency … thing

D’Angelo Russell came out red-hot for the Brooklyn Nets, banging down a couple of 3-pointers in Brooklyn’s first two possessions, hitting a driving layup a few moments later and then … <insert sound of crickets>

Russell scored the Nets’ first eight points on the team’s first four possessions. He scored five points the rest of the night.

He finished with 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting, going 1-for-6 after his initial flurry — and had two assists and three rebounds.

It turned into another one of those performances Russell is prone to that makes him so maddening at times.

When the momentum of the game began to turn in the Knicks’ favor midway through the first quarter, you could see it happening. Russell’s demeanor just changed. He seemed listless, uninspired.

And that, more than anything else, is the consistency problem he’s had throughout his young career. It’s not the consistency of performance that dogs him so much as the perceived consistency of effort and interest.

Without the latter, you can never hope to achieve the former.

In fairness to the kid, it may not even be something he’s consciously aware of, that message he exudes when he just appears to shut it down, or at least dial it down a gear or two.

After back-to-back solid performances against the New Orleans Pelicans and Golden State Warriors, it was appearing as if Russell had turned a significant corner. But then he puts up a game like he did on Monday and all those questions come flooding back.