Dinwiddie rues miss to end big night

INDIANAPOLIS — Spencer Dinwiddie poured in a career-high 26 points Saturday night against the Pacers. But chances are it’s the three he didn’t get that he’ll rue.

The young point guard missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with four seconds left as the Nets suffered a galling 123-119 overtime loss to the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

“We got the matchup we wanted, Bojan [Bogdanovic] on him,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “You could argue driving it to the rim or are you pulling up for 3? But Spencer had it going, felt good and let it go. It was a decent look. We got the matchup we wanted.”

The Nets got the matchup they wanted, but was it the look they wanted?

Yes, Dinwiddie hit 8-of-20 from the floor and 5-of-11 from 3-point range to go with his team-high eight assists. But with the defensively challenged Bogdanovic on him and 4 seconds left in a 121-119 game, could he have gone by his ex-teammate?

“I kind of like going [for] the win on the road,” Atkinson said. “Spencer had the guts to take it on the road. I think it’s a play we like.”

There was another factor at work. Moments earlier, Dinwiddie had driven and — amid clear contact — went down with no call forthcoming. The Nets had been pleading for calls all night against a more physical Indiana team. They didn’t get many and didn’t get one when Bogdanovic harassed Dinwiddie into missing badly.

“The previous play, I turned the corner going to the basket and I fell down, and they felt like I tripped myself, so I was thinking about that as well,” Dinwddie said. “Then you’re on the road and you want to go for the game, and I hit the same shot. Like I said, I guess they felt he blocked that one.”

The Nets got visibly knocked out of sync in the third quarter when the Pacers got physical. They had hit seven of their first nine shots, with assists on every one and not a single turnover, to take a 16-7 lead. They had 16 assists on their 22 first-half buckets but just eight on 20 field goals in the second half.