Brooklyn Nets: 5 takeaways from down-to-wire win at Denver

5. Carroll back on the floor a welcome sight

The Brooklyn Nets got a key member of the rotation back Friday night as DeMarre Carroll returned after missing the first 11 games of the season after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his right ankle on Oct. 16.

Carroll got 14 minutes Friday against the Denver Nuggets, scoring nine points on 2-of-6 shooting, hitting 1-of-4 from 3-point range and showing he hasn’t lost that ability to okie-doke defenders into fouling him.

He also had two rebounds and turned the ball over once (the dreaded hey-I’m-in-the-air-where’d-everybody-go pass) and was his usual pesky self defensively.

Carroll gives Brooklyn another shooter in the frontcourt along with Jared Dudley, giving the Nets the spacing they can’t get from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at the 4 spot.

He looked a bit rusty — and as age 32 having not played in more than a month, who wouldn’t be a little rusty? — but also fit in well with what Brooklyn was doing offensively. He looked in the flow offensively rather than having the look of being a step behind or out of sync with the group.

Given the premium coach Kenny Atkinson places on spacing, plus Carroll’s ability to switch and defend multiple positions, his minutes count figures only to increase from here.