Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from listless loss at Washington
By Phil Watson
Brooklyn Nets. RODIONS KURUCS. B. 14 MIN, 8 PTS, 2-for-7 (0-for-4), 5 REB (1 ORB), 5 PF, 1 TO, +6. PF
Rodions Kurucs, back from assignment with the Long Island Nets in the G League, got actual minutes on Saturday night, his first NBA playing time since the last time Brooklyn visited Washington on Nov. 16.
His jumper had some rust, but he was — surprise! — active, aggressive, fearless and helped spark a late first-half run that got the Nets back to within three at halftime after they had trailed by as much as 12.
Five fouls in 14 minutes is a bit excessive, but also marginally acceptable since he was one of the few Brooklyn Nets playing with a lot of energy at the defensive end.
In fairness, he didn’t play a ton of minutes in the double-overtime game against Memphis the night before … wait, he didn’t play any minutes in the double-overtime game against Memphis, so he had more available in the tank.
Coach Kenny Atkinson keeps making references to getting Kurucs minutes in the G League because he needs to play, but given how he performs when he gets detached from the bench at the NBA level, Kurucs really could be getting those minutes for Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Nets. ED DAVIS. C. 10 MIN, 5 PTS, 2-for-4, 7 REB (4 ORB), 1 PF, -8. C
See Ed Davis. See Ed Davis rebound. See Ed Davis rebound a lot.
It’s who he is. It’s what he does. It’s what he did in limited minutes against the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.
Death, taxes and Ed Davis rebounding — the three things you can always count on.