Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from Christmas Eve eve win over Suns

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D'ANGELO RUSSELL. B-. 31 MIN, 18 PTS, 6-for-18 (2-for-5), 4-for-4 FT, 6 REB, 8 AST, 2 PF, 2 STL, 7 TO, +15. PG. Brooklyn Nets

D’Angelo Russell found more openings against the Phoenix Suns and dropped an 18-point, eight-rebound, six-assist night on Sunday. Solid.

But he was just 6-for-18 from the floor and turned the ball over a whopping seven times. Less than optimal.

Because I’ve noticed this several times of late, Russell needs to understand that a bounce pass to a big man who’s a foot-and-a-half away is not a pocket pass so much as it is a sock pass. Difficult for a big to go down and have to field a ball like a shortstop when in a congested lane.

29 MIN, 0-for-4 (0-for-2), 4 REB (1 ORB), -5. SF. Brooklyn Nets. DEMARRE CARROLL. D+

DeMarre Carroll‘s yo-yo of a season hit a downward ebb Sunday night as he was held scoreless in a game for the second time this season.

The other was an 0-for-7 clunker in the Brooklyn Nets’ Nov. 21 loss on the road to the Dallas Mavericks.

After going 0-for-4 on Sunday and missing both 3-pointers, Carroll is shooting just 35.2 percent on the season — the second-worst on the team ahead of only Allen Crabbe’s 34.3 percent mark — and is now at 30.7 percent from 3-point range, Brooklyn’s lowest mark among players with at least one attempt per game.

Consistency is evading Carroll after an injury-marred start to the season, when he sat the first 11 games after having a surgical procedure on his right ankle on the eve of the season opener.