Brooklyn Nets: 3 things to watch against unlucky Pacers

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2. Make the right decisions in iso opportunities

Spencer Dinwiddie is the Brooklyn Nets’ go-to guy currently when it comes to situations where a ballhandler needs to beat a defender one-on-one.

But for as good as he has been — Dinwiddie is fifth in the NBA with 100 made field goals on drives and sixth, converting 56.8 percent of his shot attempts off the dribble — he can sometimes get a little too locked in to the mano-a-mano scenario.

Against the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday in the fourth quarter, Dinwiddie dribbled away much of the shot clock trying unsuccessfully to get LeBron James to bite on a move and the Nets wound up getting a poor shot, contested late in the clock.

Against the Chicago Bulls in the closing seconds Wednesday, Dinwiddie squandered the entire shot clock looking for a lane. The turnover gave Chicago the basketball and 8.4 seconds to attempt to take the lead.

Those opportunities may be hard to find against an Indiana Pacers defense that tries not to switch on picks, meaning those opportunities to square off against a mismatched defender could be limited.

Dinwiddie — and D’Angelo Russell as well — should take advantage of those opportunities when they arise, because part of the beauty of the Nets’ pace-and-space system is that it creates lanes for cutters and ballhandlers to attack the basket.

But against a defense that is as opportunistic as Indiana’s, it’s crucial to make the right decisions in those situations, because as Brooklyn learned in its first meeting with the Pacers, they will positively punish teams who make mistakes deciding where and when to go with the basketball.