Not much positive news emanated out of Brooklyn on Wednesday night. Despite a 10-0 head start against one of the few remaining sub-.500 clubs on their schedule, the Nets were embarrassed by the more desperate Wizards in a 125-116 defeat.
Tahjere McCall, just signed by the Nets on Tuesday to a 10-day contract, possibly as a reward for his toils on G-League Long Island, scored his first NBA points (after air-balling a corner three-pointer by a mile), making for a nice story.
But neither that nor a garbage-time comeback from 28 points down to make the final score look respectable could erase the stench from the Nets getting outhustled for the vast majority of the game. That two of the other teams (Charlotte and Detroit) chasing Brooklyn also lost on Wednesday wasn't relevant either.
"They just hurt us on outplaying us—just the energy, beating us on the boards," Nets center Jarrett Allen said after watching Washington grab 17 offensive rebounds. "We played like doo-doo today."
Nets guard Caris LeVert had an even more brutal night. He misfired on all five of his field goal attempts (including three three-pointers) and had zero assists while committing two careless live-ball turnovers during a 31-11 Washington run to open the third quarter. It was LeVert's first scoreless performance since January 2017.
Aside from a three-minute outburst at the end of the first half on Monday night against the Spurs, LeVert has not looked anything like the dominant player he was earlier this season before a horrific-looking fall in Minnesota on November 12 dislocated his ankle. LeVert, who missed the next 42 games, has a shooting split of 32/26/78 in the seven games since he returned to action. He's making only 43.5 percent of his attempts in the restricted area in that span, down from the 63.3 percent rate he posted until his injury.
Even if it's just rust, the Nets need someone to be a secondary playmaker behind D'Angelo Russell during a difficult home stretch of the season. Per Tankathon.com, the 32-31 Nets will face the NBA's third-most difficult strength-of-schedule in their remaining 19 contests.
'City Game' Podcast: Nets Playoff Race Is On
That's why the news Nets coach Kenny Atkinson delivered before Wednesday's stinker was the sole whiff of fresh air in Brooklyn. Atkinson said that backup point guard Spencer Dinwiddie "is very close to returning" from his recovery from surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb.
Dinwiddie was seen going through pre-game warm-ups prior to the game. One uncorroborated tweet I saw noted that Dinwiddie said he was healed, but that the Nets were being cautious.
If I were Atkinson, I would override any constraints from the Nets' Performance Team and get him to Thursday's practice so he could be activated in time for Brooklyn's crucial back-to-back this weekend.
The Nets, who are currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, host eighth-seeded Charlotte (three games behind Brooklyn) on Friday before travelling to tenth-place Miami (3 ½ games behind after Dwyane Wade's miraculous buzzer-beater on Wednesday to defeat Golden State) on Saturday.
The Nets have sorely missed Dinwiddie's ability to get downhill on drives to the basket. Brooklyn was second in the league with 54.5 drives per game through Dinwiddie's last appearance on Jan. 23. They have been averaging 46.7 drives per game, 12th-most in the league, since.
Point guard Shabazz Napier has been logging 22.6 minutes per game in Dinwiddie's absence. He tends to settle for more jump shots (115 in his last 13 games, per NBA.com) as opposed to layups (39). He has not made a very high percentage of them (31 percent overall on jumpers, 27 percent from three-point distance). I don't know how many ill-advised pull-up three-pointers he will continue to be allowed to take before Atkinson finally tells him that they're, well, ill-advised.
This is a team that is heavily dependent on its guards/wings on offense. Centers Allen and Ed Davis get almost all their points on rim runs and offensive rebound putbacks while the Nets' power forwards as a group, as I've noted ad nauseum, rarely provide any substantial scoring.
Russell can only do so much. My only complaint about his effort on Wednesday (28 points and 7 assists in 29 minutes) was that he seemed to have played to the score after the Nets got up, 10-0. His subsequent complacency (off-balance three-point brick, two turnovers) helped the Wizards get their running game going to swing the momentum. Washington had 10 fast breaks in the first quarter, which didn't include all the times the Nets were beaten down the court after their made baskets.
Getting Dinwiddie back into the rotation will give Atkinson another playmaking option instead of Napier, who should then be demoted to the change-of-pace role to which he is more suited.
If I had to guess, 40 wins should get the Nets to at least the eighth and final playoff seed. Each of their next six games are winnable, though it's unlikely they go 6-0. If they can go 4-2 (beating Charlotte, Dallas, Cleveland and Atlanta), that means they would have to go 4-9 through a hellish slate where, if the games were played today, they might be favored in just two of them.
Brooklyn can't afford to give away any more games like they just did.
For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1.
