Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from gut-check win at Chicago
By Phil Watson
Brooklyn Nets. JARRETT ALLEN. A-. 31 MIN, 16 PTS, 7-for-12, 2-for-3 FT, 12 REB (2 ORB), 3 AST, 1 PF, +1. C
Jarrett Allen settled into a nice, solid defensive and rebounding mode after carrying the Brooklyn Nets offensively in the early going, with 12 of his 16 points coming in the first quarter.
He outscored the rest of the Nets 12-10 in that opening period, hitting all five of his shots, before scoring four points on 2-of-7 shooting the rest of the way.
But Allen did a nice job with kickout passes and some interior looks, stayed out of foul trouble and gave as good as he got.
That was evident during one sequence in the second half when rookie center Wendell Carter Jr. of the Chicago Bulls went up over Allen for a big dunk.
Undeterred, Allen got a feed as he sliced down the lane and threw one down maybe even a little bit harder over Carter.
It’s been said athletes need to have no short-term memory as to avoid dwelling on a previous play or sequence of plays and Allen seems to have already mastered that skill at an early point in his career.
Brooklyn Nets. JOE HARRIS. B+. 29 MIN,. 11 PTS, 4-for-9 (3-for-5), 4 REB (1 ORB), 4 AST, 2 PF, 3 TO, +1. SG/SF
Joe Harris didn’t score a lot of points Wednesday night, but man did he make them meaningful.
It was Harris’ 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter that stopped the bleeding for the Brooklyn Nets after they had fallen into a six-point hole and it was Harris’ delicate little six-foot floater off the glass with 43 seconds left that gave Brooklyn the lead for good.
On a team that regularly deploys two point guards for big minutes, it’s a surprise when neither D’Angelo Russell or Spencer Dinwiddie leads the team in assists, but it was Harris with four who had team-high honors.
He’s been a more effective facilitator of late, just another development on a team that is very unselfish at its core.