Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from blowout loss in Toronto
By Phil Watson
Brooklyn Nets. SPENCER DINWIDDIE. D-. <p>21 MIN, 8 PTS, 1-for-7 (1-for-1), 5-for-6 FT, 3 REB, 2 AST, 2 PF, 1 STL, 1 TO, -24</p>. PG/SG
Spencer Dinwiddie‘s slump extended to its eighth game Friday night, as he has shot just 34.7 percent overall and 29.6 percent from 3-point range over that span, while his scoring has dipped to 11.3 points per game.
Dinwiddie was at least able to get to the free throw line Friday night, but he was stubborn to the point of being obstinate at the offensive end. The driving lanes were closed, but he just kept banging in there anyway. The result was predictable — he was 0-for-6 on attempts inside the arc.
Dinwiddie is the best penetrator the Nets have, but sometimes he can tend to get iso-heavy and he was very much in that mode against the Raptors.
When Dinwiddie is at his best is when he picks his spots, gets everyone involved and keeps defenses hopping not knowing whether he’s going to drive-and-kick, drive-and-dish or take it to the rack himself.
When he gets tunnel vision such as he had Friday, his effectiveness becomes diluted.
D+. 21 MIN, 8 PTS, 2-for-9 (2-for-5), 2-for-4 FT, 4 REB (1 ORB), 1 PF, 3 TO, -19. PF/SF. Brooklyn Nets. DEMARRE CARROLL
After terrific games earlier this month against two of his former teams, DeMarre Carroll‘s hot streak hit a wall against the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
Carroll knocked down a couple of 3-pointers, but was stymied when he tried to beat closeouts by the Raptors’ lengthy interior defenders.
He didn’t have a bad night defensively, but with three turnovers and a bagel-for-4 inside the arc, his offensive game didn’t hold up after a stretch in which he had averaged more than 18 points per game over his last six games.