stat recap

Tom Dowd

The emergence of Spencer Dinwiddie was intriguing enough to make the Nets guard one of the NBA’s better stories of the 2017-18 season. Injuries to Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell elevated Dinwiddie to a starting role less than three weeks into the season, and less than a year since he was toiling in the G League. It would be an understatement to say Dinwiddie seized the opportunity.

He ended up averaging 13.8 points and 7.2 assists in 58 starts and 12.6 points and 6.6 assists overall. With just 1.6 turnovers per game, he finished second in the NBA in assist to turnover ratio, as well as 11th in assists. But the road to those final numbers was the fun part.

It started with a spot start. Dinwiddie went for 22 points and nailed a deep, dagger 3-pointer with Russell sidelined in the fifth game of the season as the Nets beat the Cavaliers at Barclays Center. By mid-November, Dinwiddie was entrenched in the starting lineup with Russell sidelined for two months by a knee injury. In his second start after Russell’s injury, Dinwiddie poured in 25 points with six 3-pointers and averaged 19.3 points and 8.0 assists in a four-game stretch. The Dinwiddie tale was off and running, but just getting started.

There was a pair of 26-point games in December, and in January came the real dramatics. Dinwiddie’s game-winner against the Timberwolves capped a 26-point, nine-assist outing with zero turnovers. It was the first of three game-winning baskets in the month, including a buzzer-beater in Detroit on Jan. 21. And that doesn’t include his wild 31-point show against Toronto, in which Dinwiddie scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime before the Nets fell to the Eastern Conference’s top team in OT.

February brought Dinwiddie further into the spotlight with his appearance at NBA All-Star Weekend. Selected for the Skills Challenge, Dinwiddie won the event. In addition, his assist numbers skyrocketed during the month, with Dinwiddie averaging 9.1 assists in February.

He moved back into a reserve role in mid-March, but continued major contributions, including a double-double with 12 points and 12 assists in a win at Miami and 20 points with seven assists in a win over Chicago.

Over the course of the season, Dinwiddie emerged as a team leader with the confidence to take and make crunch-time shots while leading the team in offensive rating.

By the end of the season, Dinwiddie had a well-earned place in conversations about the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. He finished 11th in the NBA in assists and second in assist to turnover ratio. His leadership and strong play was crucial at a point in the season where the Nets desperately needed it after the injuries to Lin and Russell. Dinwiddie was a capable scorer on a decent volume of attempts. But his overall field goal percentage was steadily in the 38-39 percent range throughout the season. After getting off to a decent start from 3-point range – shooting 38.8 percent as of December 1 – Dinwiddie’s numbers steadily declined over the season and he finished at 32.6 percent behind the arc on a career-high 433 attempts that made up 51.7 percent of his overall field goal attempts.

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: Spencer Dinwiddie

Alex Labidou

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has an unconventional style of play when he’s on the court, but he was arguably the Nets’ most effective all-around player in the 2017-18 season.

The longest-tenured Net made plenty of strides in his third campaign in Brooklyn and it was his progress on the offensive end that was most noteworthy. National media outlets have labelled Hollis-Jefferson’s style of play on offense as herky jerky as he has a unique shot and often drives into the lane fearlessly, yet it was quietly useful for the former University of Arizona Wildcat.

The 23-year-old saw his scoring average go up by an impressive 5.2 points per game – going from 8.7 ppg in the 2016-17 campaign to 13.9 ppg last season. Considering Hollis-Jefferson came into the NBA with defense as his calling card, the improvement shown on the other side of the court proves his increasing comfort level at the four spot.

“The way the game’s going, I feel like, now, that’s definitely my natural fit,” Hollis-Jefferson said in his final media session of the season.

In his first full season as a power forward, Hollis-Jefferson’s versatility made him a handful for opposing defenses at times. His athleticism and ability to create offense for himself or his teammates showcases why he can be an ideal fit at the position in the modern NBA. He often had nights that would make fantasy players gush.

Take Brooklyn’s April 5 win against Milwaukee for example. The forward had an incredible stat line of 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Hollis-Jefferson had 12 double-doubles last season, he had 10 total in his first years in the league. It isn’t surprising that the Nets struggled mightily in the 14 games he missed.

Hollis-Jefferson offers tremendous value as a player who can influence the game on both sides. He can take the next step in his development as he gets more comfortable in guarding fours and more efficient on the offensive end.  The forward is solid at playing perimeter defense and an impressive rebounder considering the size advantage he gives up each night. The challenge will be finding ways to use his athleticism and speed to excel in using positioning to contain bigger opponents.

“For the most part it was tough because most of the fours have been in the league for a while. They pretty much all have 15 plus pounds on me,” he explained before adding. “I think it’s about how hard you compete at the end of the day and coming out being ready to match that physicality, to match that energy.

“You’ve got guys like Paul Millsap who plays more than me, he’s strong, skilled, a veteran, you’ve got to know how to compete. Be ready, know his motor, know his game, know his tendencies, which I’ve done. I felt like I’ve done a really good job.”

Offensively, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson aims to improve his downtown shooting, as he converted 24.1 percent of his attempts on three-pointers last season.

“Shooting less mid-range and adding three’s,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “I would say just adding that to my game, I feel like would be better for our team and for myself…You want to do what’s best at the end of the day to make your team better. Coaches want it, staff wants it, teammates want it, so I’m all for it.”

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

Dante Cunningham arrived in Brooklyn on trade deadline day in exchange for Rashad Vaughn, who had himself been acquired just two days earlier for center Tyler Zeller. The shuffle brought a new look to Brooklyn’s big-man rotation, and filled a void left by the trade of forward Trevor Booker to Philadelphia two months earlier.

Zeller was part of a four-man contingent of centers, fronted at that point by the emerging rookie Jarrett Allen, who had moved into the starting lineup a week earlier. The veteran forward Cunningham was a better fit to play the short-handed power forward spot, in addition to moving to center in small ball lineups.

Cunningham coincidentally made his Nets debut in a game against his former Pelicans teammates, with the team registering plus-21 during his 19 minutes.

“Saw him really do good things,” said Nets coach Kenny Atkinson of Cunningham’s first Brooklyn appearance. “I thought he had a real positive impact. His energy and his rebounding, his physicality. He’s an NBA player, and with experience. That’s a big help for our group.”

Cunningham quickly seized a consistent spot in Brooklyn’s rotation, averaging 20 minutes per game over 22 games. In his fourth game as a Net, Cunningham put up a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds against Charlotte. 

Over the season’s final two months, Cunningham gave the Nets a tough and versatile frontcourt presence, shooting 38.3 percent from 3-point range on 2.7 attempts per game.

Most significantly, Dante Cunningham helped bring some balance to Brooklyn’s frontcourt rotation. Before his arrival, the Nets were four-deep at center with no natural backup for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. And at the time, even Hollis-Jefferson was sidelined by an injury, with DeMarre Carroll sliding down to the 4 spot. With the Nets always valuing shooting range from their bigs, Cunningham connected for 38.3 percent behind the arc. At 6-foot-8, he did give away a size advantage when asked to defend bigger players.

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: Dante Cunningham

Long labelled a spot up shooter, Joe Harris changed that perception in a breakout campaign in the 2017-18 season.

The Nets reserve swingman had a career-year in his fourth season in the NBA, averaging personal bests in points (10.8), rebounds (3.3), field goal percentage (49.1), three-point percentage (41.9) and free throw percentage (82.7). More impressively, he was the best player in the NBA in scoring on drives to the rim (62.7 percent), topping second-placed LeBron James.

Harris credited his familiarity with Kenny Atkinson’s system – being in his second year with the team – as the reason he was able to be more assertive on the court.

“Yeah, I think any time you’re comfortable playing within a system you’re going to play more aggressive,” Harris said in his final media session of the season. “You’re going to play with more confidence.”

But make no mistake: Harris is dangerous in catch and shoot attempts. He improved his three-point percentage by 3.4 points and broke in the NBA’s top 20 in that area – sitting at 17th. From Jan. 1, he had the second-highest percent from downtown in the league (46.9).

Harris acknowledged that he challenged himself to shoot above 40 percent on three-point shots and reflected on his approach in the offseason as the reason he was able to accomplish that goal.

“I got to a point where I had confidence in myself, I could shoot at that level,” he explained. “And so, it’s more about keeping myself accountable for the work I had put in over the summer time and then for me to have the season where I was able to do that, I think hopefully I can build on that and try to take it to another level and continue to improve.”

Harris proficiency from downtown also saw him set the new record for threes made by a Nets bench player in a single season (118), breaking Mirza Teletovic’s mark of 115. Harris’ strong campaign will make him a coveted free agent when he hits the market this summer, but he’s already made no secret of his desire to stay in Brooklyn.

“My hope and I know what I have kind of expressed to everyone is that I have enjoyed being here, I enjoy being in Brooklyn and I like being a part of this organization,” Harris said. “I think they’re about the right stuff and I don’t really envision myself being anywhere else.”

Harris was arguably the Nets’ most efficient player on offense last season and was solid on the other side of the court as well. He will likely look to improve in the areas where he impressed last season: Shot selection and offensive balance.

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: Joe Harris

On a team where just about every other piece of significant playing time went to players 26 or under – all the way down to a 19-year-old rookie – the veteran presence of 31-year-old DeMarre Carroll stood out. And after injuries sabotaged his tenure in Toronto, it was a rejuvenated Carroll who led balanced Brooklyn with 29.9 minutes per game while starting all 73 games he played.

In doing so, Carroll posted career highs for points and rebounds per game, while elevating his 3-point percentage back to the levels it was at a few years ago, although this time shooting a higher volume, resulting in a career-high 145 3-pointers made.

“This performance team, they get all the credit because they really kept me here and made me do the work and made me do the work after games when I didn’t want to,” said Carroll. “Player development on the court. My player development coach Jordan Ott, he was really big for me. Helping me minimize the game and do what I do well, and not try to do all the other things. Player development here is great. You can see now, I feel like this is my best season, not only physically but mentally. I think it’s just hats off to the player development team and the performance team.”

Consistency was Carroll’s calling card. His performances leaned toward solid rather than standout, but that’s what the Nets could count on every night. Remarkably, he did elevate his game as the season went on. Carroll was inactive for back-to-back games on Jan. 8 and Jan. 10 – the only consecutive games he would miss until a hip injury sidelined him for the final four games of the year – but returned stronger than ever.

In two of his first four games back, Carroll posted double-doubles. Next game, he went for 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting in a home win over Miami. From Jan. 11 to the end of the season, Carroll averaged 14.5 points and shot 39.9 percent from 3-point range in 37 games.

On a five-game road trip that took the Nets to the West Coast over 10 days from Feb. 27 to March 8, Carroll averaged 18.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and shot 43.2 percent from 3-point range and 51.6 percent overall. He blew past his career high for double-doubles, posting his 13th and final of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds in a win at Orlando on March 28.

Carroll was crucial to Brooklyn’s success throughout the season. He was the Nets’ leading scorer in wins, averaging 15.4 points while playing in 25 of Brooklyn’s 28 wins and shooting 42.3 percent from 3-point range and 48.1 percent overall in those games. Steady and reliable with a well-rounded game, Carroll kept the Nets together on the court and off as a veteran leader in the locker room. His 41.4 field goal percentage was higher than during his two tough years in Toronto, but still far below his 47.9 mark during two seasons in Atlanta. With the Nets as a team 29th in the league in field goal percentage, Carroll is one of several key players who could bring immediate benefits by elevating that number.

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: DeMarre Carroll

Quincy Acy’s modest stats don’t tell the complete story of his impact in his second year with the Nets. The 28-year-old served a variety of purposes within Kenny Atkinson’s system.

On offense, Acy was a floor spacer who could play at either the four or five positions, though Atkinson usually deployed him at center. At the five spot, Acy creates “gravity” as the head coach, forcing opposing centers to have to come out and guard him. It was an adjustment for the former Baylor star, who came into the league as a small forward. Prior to joining the Nets in the 2016-17 season, he had never taken more than 1.2 threes per game. In the 2017-18 season, he averaged 4.2 attempts from downtown.

“It’s a new role for me, it’s a lot different but I’ll do anything I can to help the team win,” Acy said back in January.

At times, Acy’s role definitely came with its challenges. His shooting often varied between hot to cold, with no in-between. He shot 52.2 percent from the floor in October before struggling in November. Still, Acy finished the season on a strong note, averaging 9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds while shooting 48.5 percent (46.2 from downtown) in his final five games.

Defensively, Acy was one of the Nets’ hustle guys as he scrapped and did the dirty work needed to secure wins. Despite having to guard guys who were usually much bigger than his 6-foot-7, 240 lbs frame, Acy used his positional awareness to disrupt opponents and was seventh in the NBA in drawing charges (0.50 per game).

Overall, Acy provided the grit and spacing that Atkinson and the Nets expected from him. More importantly, he was an invaluable locker room presence and he was often the team’s hype man on the sidelines as shown below.

As previously mentioned, Acy’s expanded range provides plenty of value in Atkinson’s system. As the forward continues to grow more comfortable with his downtown attempts, his shooting average should get closer to his career number of 44.7 percent. Where the Nets would likely want to see improvement is in rebounding as he grabbed 3.2 per game.

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: Quincy Acy

Jarrett Allen’s soft-spoken demeanor often gets misinterpreted as lacking confidence. He went a long way towards proving against that in his rookie campaign.

Allen was labeled a project when he was selected at No. 22 in the 2017 draft as observers questioned if he had the physical maturity and passion to thrive in the NBA. Even within the Nets, the expectation was the center would need to spend some time in the G League to develop his game. But the center would let his game speak for itself as he emerged as a pleasant surprise during Brooklyn’s 2017-18 season.

After missing summer league, Allen got off to a slow start – averaging just 4.2 points and 3.7 rebounds in October and November. Once the then-teen got his first double-digit scoring game, 12 points in a loss against the Hawks in December, his confidence started to pick up. Allen’s scoring, rebounding and blocks numbers would continue to rise, culminating with him being named as starter against the crosstown rival Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 30. His best month of his rookie season would follow shortly after as he would average 12.9 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 61.6 percent.

It was in that month that the Nets realized that they might have, in fact, found their longtime answer at the center position. Ahead of the game against the Rockets on Feb. 6, Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson compared the rookie to Houston’s defensive stalwart Clint Capela. Allen was stunned by the remarks and was highly-appreciative of the complement.

“It means a lot. He’s a high level guy that’s doing very well in his position,” Allen told BrooklynNets.com prior to the Nets’ loss to the Rockets that day. “I’d say he’s one the best in his position. I’m trying to be just as good as him in my position. To be compared on a high level, that means a lot coming from the coach.”

Allen’s breakthrough moment would come a few weeks later though. With Brooklyn stuck in an eight-game losing streak, the rookie sparked the team out of its skid against Chicago with an incredible dunk on Lauri Markkanen. Allen’s slam made Twitter erupt and he was the leading play on several highlight shows that night. He would finish the game with 18 points, nine boards and three blocks while shooting a blistering 8-for-11.

While the dreaded rookie wall would affect Allen’s consistency, his confidence didn’t waver. He pointed to his matchup against the much-bigger Dwight Howard as an example. The Hornets dominated the Nets during the season, averaging 22.0 points and 20.3 against the team. Still, Allen saw a valuable learning opportunity in facing the center.

“I tried to take what opponents did against me and try to use it against opponents,” Allen told BrooklynNets.com after the team’s win on April 9. “I’d say with Dwight Howard, his rebounding. He’s a good rebounder because of how he uses his hands [and] his body. I don’t have his body yet, but using the hands to get rebounds [is important].”

Despite giving up about 30 pounds against the veteran, Allen tried to hold his own against the center and averaged 9.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks against Charlotte. “I tried to show him what I got,” Allen said.

It’s comments like that showcase Allen’s growing self-belief. When revisiting his Capela comments at the end of season, he admitted his ambitions are larger now.

“Getting open, I want to use that model [that Capela uses] to set them [his teammates] up,” Allen said. “But now, I’m trying to expand my game to three-point line.”

It would be hard to put that and much more past Allen considering the growth he’s shown this season.

Allen is already a talented rim-roller and his better-than-advertised athleticism allows him to compensate for some of the size he gives up to the bigger centers in the league. Still, the goal for the now-20-year-old has to be to get into the gym and get stronger. With some added weight and strength, he can continue to expand his low post repertoire. He’s already shown some glimpses of touch around the rim and that’ll improve as he bulks up.

If Allen can expand in that area and continue to refine his three point shot, he could cement his status as one of the top 10 players from the 2017 draft.

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: Jarrett Allen

That shaky start, back when Caris LeVert couldn’t find the bottom of the net in early November, is a distant memory.

The second-year swingman broke out of that early slump soon enough and went on to put together a solid season as one of the Nets’ most dangerous offensive players and most versatile as well.

Things started to turn around for LeVert upon the return from an early-November West Coast trip with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting against the Celtics. LeVert made both of his 3-point attempts that night and would go on to shoot 37.9 percent from 3-point range over his final 58 games of the season.

And in December, LeVert took off, knocking down 45.3 percent of his threes and shooting 49 percent of the field while averaging 14.3 points in 15 games. During Brooklyn’s two-game Mexico City trip, LeVert sparked a win over Oklahoma City with 21 points, 10 assists and five rebounds.

The hot December was part of a stretch in which LeVert stepped into the backup point guard role following D’Angelo Russell’s knee injury, taking control of the second unit. In 30 games while Russell was sidelined, LeVert asserted himself in averaging 13.2 points on 45.2 percent shooting, including 41.1 percent from 3-point range. He also averaged 4.8 assists.

Injuries cut into LeVert’s momentum at midseason. He missed eight of 11 games between Jan. 26 and Feb. 26. With the All-Star break on the calendar as well, LeVert played just three games over the course of a month.

Upon returning on Feb. 26 over the Bulls, he finished in a rush.

In his second game back, LeVert had 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting against Cleveland, and went for a career-high 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting – including 5-of-7 3-pointers – against the Los Angeles Clippers two games later. He helped the Nets close out their five-game, 10-day road trip with 22 points and eight assists in a win at Charlotte.

LeVert’s signature performance of the second half came in an overtime win at Miami with 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. He saved the game in regulation with a chase-down block in the final minute, then won it with a short jumper in overtime.

Over his final 21 games after returning on Feb. 26, LeVert averaged 13.1 points on 45.1 percent shooting, including 37.3 percent from 3-point range, with 4.6 rebounds per game.

After an abbreviated rookie season, LeVert took a significant jump forward in his second year. His numbers were up across the board, including the significant area of 3-point shooting, where he elevated his percentage to 34.7 after shooting 32.1 as a rookie, improving as the year went on after a slow start from deep. With the opportunity to take on greater playmaking responsibility, LeVert delivered 4.2 assists per game. The missing ingredient was consistency. There were games and periods of the season where LeVert looked like the best player on the floor for the Nets, and others where he faded into the background a bit.