Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from relatively stress-free win over Pelicans
By Phil Watson
24 MIN, 8 PTS, 3-for-5 (2-for-3), 2 REB, 2 PF, 1 STL, 1 TO, -14. PF. Brooklyn Nets. JARED DUDLEY. C+
With Rondae Hollis-Jefferson sidelined by a strained right adductor, Jared Dudley got the call for his first start since Nov. 23 and had a solid, if unspectacular, night for the Brooklyn Nets.
Dudley knocked down a couple of open 3s, moved the ball well on offense and did what he could to avoid getting completely steamrolled by Julius Randle in the low block while on the defensive end.
Dudley was giving up two inches and about 22 pounds in that matchup, so it wasn’t a total stunner to see Randle backing Dudley down with relative ease. It’s Randle’s bread-and-butter and if there is an area where Brooklyn’s roster is lacking, it is a bulky low-post defender.
SHABAZZ NAPIER. B. 24 MIN, 12 PTS, 5-for-11, 2-for-4, 3 REB, r AST, 1 PF, 2 TO, +15. PG/SG. Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets unveiled a new look Wednesday with three point guards on the floor at the same time.
Shabazz Napier was out there along with D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie for a few minutes in the first half and delivered a big buzzer-beating 3 at the end of the first quarter out of the grouping.
He didn’t score 32 points again, as he did against the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday, but Napier was solid at hitting open looks when he got them and keeping the ball hopping when he didn’t.
Honestly not too crazy about the switch-to-the-left-hand-in-mid-air drives, though.