NETS NOTES

Dinwiddie has played so well this season coming off the bench Dallas coach Rick Carlisle dubbed him a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, and it’s not a stretch after Dinwiddie’s 19 points and seven assists off the bench against the Mavs.

After Wednesday, Dinwiddie is averaging 14.9 points and 4.8 assists. But the Nets have long held that his late-season swoon a year ago was directly related to being relegated to the bench and playing second fiddle to Russell. Atkinson acknowledged as much, and Dinwiddie said it was an adjustment.

“Any time your role changes drastically during the season, you have to adjust,” Dinwiddie told The Post. “I knew what it was coming into [this] season, so it’s easy when you’ve got all summer and all that other stuff to know what your role is going to be. There wasn’t an adjustment; I already knew what time it was.

“Anytime your role changes you have to adjust. It’s not like it’s [Russell’s] fault. Your role changes, you do whatever the role is you’re supposed to do.” ➤ Atkinson pulled Jared Dudley for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in the third quarter to guard Har

rison Barnes. But he said he’s not ready to make a lineup change.

“I’m not ready to go there yet,” Atkinson said. “I like how our first unit is playing, I like [Dudley] in that f irst unit, I love how he moves the ball. It’s something we can look at down the road but I think we’ll probably stay status quo for now.”