Ky's on the prize
With Irving finally back, Nets can get three top guards working as one
After much was made over how long it would take D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie to mesh in the backcourt together, the Nets say don’t worry about a Kyrie Irving-Dinwiddie duo taking as long to jell.
Modesty aside, Irving has proclaimed himself a genius when it comes to the game, and few could argue the point. And the Nets are counting on that big basketball brain to accelerate Irving’s chemistry with the lineup in general, and Dinwiddie specifically.
“Yes. We saw it [Sunday] night,” Kenny Atkinson said, alluding to the Nets’ rout of Atlanta in Irving’s return. “There’s just certain things he understands, and also him understanding there has to be some sharing out there. He did a great job getting everybody involved.
“The flow was great. That helped Spencer, it helped Joe [Harris], it helped everybody. So the fact that his IQ is so high, that helps a lot. And then Spencer also understanding that his role’s changed and understanding what that looks like.” It looked sharp Sunday. Despite coming off a twomonth layoff, Irving scored 21 points on efficient 10 of 11 shooting. Dinwiddie handed out a game-high eight assists, and Irving left in the third quarter with the Nets up by 39.
“With any pairing, it takes time for you to work it out,” Dinwiddie said. “We’re going to be tested on these next several where we play really high-quality opponents that are all in the playoff race. I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s going to be fun. If he can shoot 90 percent and I can get eight assists every night — shoot, I’m rolling.”
Irving and Dinwiddie were a plus-25 in just 14 minutes together. And while Irving knows he can’t count on that kind of shooting or level of blowout, he is banking on their chemistry getting even better.
“When you’re a great basketball player, a great basketball mind, you’re able to play with anyone out there; you’re able to adjust,” Irving said.
“I wasn’t trying to come and be over-aggressive, just let Spence get us in our offense, initiate, me play off the ball and continue to develop great habits where we can depend on each other, play the right way.”
One way they can depend on each other is freeing Irving up to play off the ball more, as they did early with Caris LeVert.
“He understands, first of all, he doesn’t want to wear himself out, and him also understanding one of his strengths is his ability to shoot the ball off screens, even in space how his gravity is a big help,” Atkinson said. “We’ve got to find that right [balance] where he’s not doing it too much, because we also want the ball in his hands a lot.”
Irving is hitting 39.1 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s, after making a red-hot 45.4 percent last season and 46.8 percent in 2016-17.
With the prospect of having to deal with Utah’s Royce O’Neale picking Irving up full-court to wear him out Tuesday, there is value in letting Dinwiddie or LeVert bring the ball up and freeing him up with off-ball screens and side out-of-bounds plays.
Conserving Irving is vital, especially since he just missed 26 straight games and a week ago was acknowledging the possibility of season-ending shoulder surgery. That’s part of the reason it was so shocking to hear him proclaim he’d play both ends of the back-to-back Tuesday against the Jazz and then Wednesday in Philadelphia.
“As honest as he was with the media, he was honest with me, too, where he stood,” Atkinson said. “The difficult thing was there was a lot of information out there, even internally with our medical staff. So that one-onone between me and him, that sit-down face-to-face — ‘hey, tell me what you’re thinking.’ So those kind of conversations are vital.”