Brooklyn won their 15th game out of 17 on Sunday night, topping the Wizards 113-106 to head out on their west coast swing on a winning note.
The biggest note of that game, perhaps, was that it marked Blake Griffin’s Nets debut; Griffin, who officially signed March 8, played a supporting role in his debut – he scored two points and notched two rebounds in 15 minutes – but gave it a thumbs up.
“Just to be back out there and get a rhythm going was great,” Griffin said. “It’s tough to recreate actual game atmosphere, so I felt it was a good start, but I have some room to improve, obviously.”
Those two points were noteworthy in that they came on Griffin’s first dunk in a game in three seasons.
“I knew when it happened it was going to be a thing, so I tried not to look at the bench,” Griffin said. “But I saw everyone standing up and DeAndre (Jordan) with his arms out, so, it was hard not to smile. Felt good to get that out of the way and move on.”
A stuff for two, but even though the neophyte Net didn’t “stuff the stat sheet,” head coach Steve Nash noted that Griffin was a plus-12 in his 15 minutes on the floor.
“I thought Blake was great. He didn’t stuff the stat sheet, but his experience and intelligence made winning plays,” Nash said. “You can see how he can help us.”
“First game, learning on the fly without much practice time, he looked comfortable,” James Harden added. “We tried to get him involved, but Blake is going to be key for us. He’s versatile and creates mismatch problems, and is a great passer. Once we find sets where we can incorporate him and he can be prepared, we’ll be that much better.”
And whatever it takes to win is whatever he will do, says Griffin.
“We have a lot of guys that can score the basketball and do it efficiently, so my job is to fill the voids wherever they may be.”
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