Brooklyn Nets: 5 takeaways from making shambles of 76ers

5. Reduced minutes for Dudley

Jared Dudley played only 15 minutes for the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, sitting the final 21 minutes of the game after picking up his fourth foul.

This may be a case of same song, different dancer. Perhaps coach Kenny Atkinson did that game-to-game thing and kept Dudley on the bench because Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was playing so well in the second half.

But given that Hollis-Jefferson went nuts in the second half — going 7-for-9 with 14 points to go with five rebounds and three assists while the team was a plus-22 while he was out there, it felt like a torch might have been in the process of being passed.

Dudley has started each of Brooklyn’s first 10 games, but the starting 4 spot belonged to RHJ last season except for when the fourth-year forward was injured or recovering from injury.

Hollis-Jefferson looked like himself Sunday night — he played within himself, didn’t take shots outside his range, moved the ball crisply, defended like crazy and gave the Nets a nuclear reactor’s worth of energy.

He also finished the game against the Houston Rockets on Friday night and it might be time for Atkinson to at least think about reinstalling Hollis-Jefferson as the starter at the 4.

For all of Dudley’s veteran know-how, there seems to be a moment in almost every game where he does something that doesn’t fit that profile at all. On Sunday, it was a blind pass into heavy traffic that turned into a monster dunk for Ben Simmons on the other end,.

Against the Rockets, it was a blind pass after an offensive rebound that perfectly split the guards for a backcourt violation. In New Orleans, it was an intentional foul while there was still almost 22 seconds left on the clock and the Nets nursing a three-point lead.

No one expected the 33-year-old to be a major producer this season, but for all of the spacing Dudley may provide the offense, there are things he doesn’t really provide on a consistent basis — rebounding, defense and scoring.

I’m not saying there should be a change. I’m just saying that if there is one, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for the Nets.