Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from uneven showing against Timberwolves

Jared Dudley‘s minutes continued to shrink, with Friday’s 15 minutes matching his season-low.

He drove the ball well a couple of times, but got eaten alive by Taj Gibson at the defensive end. One amusing side note from the YES Network broadcast: Dudley’s defense on Gibson on one sequence in the first quarter was highlighted for how well Dudley moved and positioned himself.

The irony of that was that it was Gibson’s only missed shot of the game and the Brooklyn native’s seven first-quarter points helped keep Minnesota in the game when they were struggling offensively. All seven of those points came while Dudley was on the coverage.

Ed Davis was questionable coming into the game after spraining his left ankle in Wednesday’s game at Dallas — a night he put up a season-high 17 points — and as the game progressed Friday, Davis’ mobility became more limited.

He logged a couple of minutes in the third quarter after Jarrett Allen picked up his fourth foul, but Davis was just not able to mount any sort of defense against Karl-Anthony Towns, who torched the Nets for 17 points in that period.

Considering that outside of Allen, Davis is the only legitimate big man on the Nets’ roster, it’s time to hope for a quick recovery because Brooklyn will need Davis’ size and savvy against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

With the Minnesota Timberwolves threatening to run away with the game in the third quarter, starting center Jarrett Allen on the bench with four fouls and backup big Ed Davis struggling with an ankle injury, coach Kenny Atkinson turned to seldom-used veteran Kenneth Faried.

Faried logged six minutes, was a non-factor offensively, surprisingly didn’t do much on the glass and didn’t have the size to do much to stop Karl-Anthony Towns at the defensive end.

Faried has struggled to carve out much of a role with the Nets since being acquired from the Denver Nuggets over the summer. In Denver, his role had basically vanished and one has to wonder what sort of chilly reception Faried will get next July when he becomes a free agent.