HURRYclose’ BACK!
Spencer ‘very to return, but can’t help Nets in blowout loss to Wizards
Spencer Dinwiddie’s return is around the corner, and Wednesday reiterated that it can’t come soon enough for the Nets.
The Nets were embarrassingly blown out at home by the Wizards, 125-116, not long after coach Kenny Atkinson revealed Dinwiddie is “very close” to coming back from the surgery to his right thumb. Atkinson wouldn’t use such terminology if it weren’t imminent.
The Nets (32-31) are now 6-7 without Dinwiddie, which doesn’t seem too bad except they won 9 of 11 before he underwent surgery. Their effort against the Wizards (25-36) was devoid of defense. Utterly disappointing is an understate- ment, and Caris LeVert as the main culprit.
In his seventh game back after missing three months with a gruesome ankle injury, LeVert was scoreless over 20 minutes on 0-for-5 shooting. It was the first time he failed to record a point since early in his rookie season.
It also happened Wednesday on his Bobblehead Night.
“I feel for him. I know how bad he wants it and how hard he works. And I just know the return to injury, the return to form, is hard,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I think he’s still searching. And quite honestly I have to help put him in better positions to succeed. Tonight that was not the case. “We need him. We need him badly. But we know it’s just going to take time.” Still, the Nets maintained the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference and Dinwiddie will provide a lifeline. As Atkinson said about the point guard, “I look at Spencer as a great free-agent signing.” The Nets will need it as they embark on a seven-game, 18-day road trip starting in mid-March. It is a make-or-break stretch and the hope is Dinwiddie will be fully re-acclimated.
Assuming both LeVert and D’Angelo Russell remain healthy in the interim, they will both play alongside Dinwiddie for the first time since Nov. 12 – when LeVert suffered a gruesome ankle injury and was sidelined for almost three months.
Re-working a rotation and system with three high-volume scoring guards could present challenges, and Atkinson understands other players will have their minutes slashed.
“I think we’ll have to go back and look at tape from the beginning of the season — the first (14) games they played together,” Atkinson said. “The good thing is they’ve all been with the program and the system, it’s not like a guy coming from another program, so they know what the heck they have to do.”
On Wednesday, Russell was the lone offensive weapon with 28 points and LeVert was a wreck. The Wizards finished with 34 assists – compared to the Nets’ 19 – and got 31 points from Bradley Beal. The Nets took a 10-0 lead after two minutes, blew it by the end of the first quarter, and trailed for the final 38 minutes. The Wizards led by as many as 28 in the third quarter.
“We played like doo-doo,” center Jarrett Allen said.
KENNY RESPECTS KENNY
Atkinson was playing high school basketball on Long Island around at the same time Kenny Anderson was tearing up NYC at Archbishop Molloy in Queens.
So the Nets coach has a great level of appreciation for Anderson, 48, who suffered a stroke over the weekend and is recovering at home.
“Best high school player I ever saw,” Atkinson, 51, said. “Well, it’s between him and Pearl Washington. I’ll never forget seeing Pearl score 52 points on Long Island. He didn’t even work out. Just stayed on the bench. No warm ups, no lay ups. And then he just dropped 52.
“But Kenny — I played against him a bunch of times at Georgia Tech (while Atkinson was at University of Richmond). Incredible, incredible player.”
Anderson suffered the blood clot in his leg, which affected his speech and vision, according to NBA writer Peter Vecsey.