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Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from no-stress win over Wizards

By Phil Watson

Brooklyn Nets Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Brooklyn Nets Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets Rodions Kurucs. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

1. Kurucs delivers in 1st career start

Second-round pick Rodions Kurucs did not play for seven straight games to close out the month of November, picking up five DNP-CDs and sitting out two games while on assignment to the Long Island Nets of the NBA G League.

After scoring 12 points in 14 minutes in the Brooklyn Nets’ 99-97 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 3, Kurucs didn’t get off the bench in the Nets’ Dec. 5 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He got 14 minutes in the overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 7 and 13 in the Nets’ win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

The breakthrough came Wednesday, when he dropped a then-career-high 13 points and had a career-best three steals in 19 minutes in Brooklyn’s 127-124 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.

The legend of Rodi went to new heights Friday night.

With Allen Crabbe sidelined with a sore right knee after a hard fall at Philly, coach Kenny Atkinson pulled off a stunner, opting to start Kurucs at small forward and shifting Joe Harris to the shooting guard spot.

That made Kurucs the youngest player born outside the U.S. to start a game for the Nets franchise at 20 years, 312 days old. The old mark belonged to Yi Jianlian, who was 21 years, 2 days old when he started for the New Jersey Nets against the Washington Wizards on Oct. 29, 2008.

The kid appeared to be extremely nervous — or not.

He opened the scoring by retrieving a loose ball along the baseline and feathering a short jumper over Tomas Satoransky and later managed to get an offensive rebound away from Thomas Bryant and score on a putback as Brooklyn opened the game with a 7-0 run.

Kurucs knocked down seven points in the third quarter and finished with 15 points (a new career-high) and six rebounds, matching a career-best, in a career-high 30 minutes. He was 5-for-6 overall, made his only 3-point attempt and hit all four of his free throws.

And with each performance, he’s making it more difficult for Atkinson to keep on off the floor.