Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from a solid road win at New York
By Phil Watson
ALLEN CRABBE. B+. 32 MIN, 17 PTS, 6-for-9 (5-for-5), 4 REB, 2 AST, 2 PF, 1 STL, 1 TO, +9. SG. Brooklyn Nets
Allen Crabbe is finding his touch from 3-point range and that can’t be anything but good for the Brooklyn Nets.
Crabbe hit 5-of-5 from deep Saturday night, just the second time in his career he’s turned that trick and his first time doing so with Brooklyn.
The only other 5-for-5 night Crabbe had from 3-point land came when he was with the Portland Trail Blazers against the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 8, 2017, per Basketball Reference.
Crabbe has hit 25-of-49, 51 percent, from 3-point range over his last seven games and his season average of 38.1 percent is now higher than the 37.8 percent clip he had last season, when he set franchise records for 3-point makes (201) and takes (532) in a single season.
Crabbe’s value to the Nets is as a 3-point shooter, because as ESPN’s Zach Lowe pointed out on Friday, he doesn’t drive, kick, pass or defend at a level high enough to warrant the expenditure general manager Sean Marks made in acquiring Crabbe from Portland in July 2017.
32 MIN, 20 PTS, 7-for-14 (2-for-2), 6 REB, 2 AST, 3 PF, 2 STL, 1 TO, 1 BLK, +9. PF/C. Brooklyn Nets. RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON. B+
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had another outstanding defensive game Saturday night, shutting down Knicks’ leading scorer Tim Hardaway Jr., who was just 2-of-12 and had seven points.
He also is finding his shooting touch, knocking down a pair of corner 3s and scoring 20 points for just the second time this season.
The only knock on his grade was the three missed free throws in the fourth quarter that allowed New York to stay in the game perhaps a bit longer than the Knicks should have been able to.