The Monday after Thanksgiving is often viewed as one of the toughest days of the year to go back to work. The Brooklyn Nets would surely agree. The Chicago Bulls ran them off the court tonight, winning by a 128-102 margin.
In fairness, Brooklyn played this one as the second half of a back-to-back sequence, taking on an Orlando Magic team known for its physicality before flying out to Chi-Town. They also came into the contest with four usual starters inactive. That’s a lot harder to battle through whatever hangover you were nursing this morning — turkey-induced or otherwise.
Pardons aside, along with the understanding that games like this were bound to start happening at some point, Nets fans will likely want to forget all about this one. But before burning the tape, here’s a final look.
Nets Have Something with their Backup PG Duo
It’s been a slow but steady climb into the rotation this season for Shake Milton. In his first 11 outings, he averaged just 9.5 minutes per game, mixing in three DNPs. In the past six, he’s averaged 26.6 minutes. With each opportunity, he’s made a better case to get more and made perhaps his most compelling one tonight.
Shake finished with 14 points, five assists, six rebounds, a block, and a steal. Before things got out of hand in the third quarter, he had 8/5/1 on 3-of-7 shooting. Few, if any of those points came easy, making them all that more impressive.
Milton, 28, was acquired from the Knicks in a sign-and-trade that was part of the Mikal Bridges trade. He’s on a three-year deal, only the first of which is guaranteed.
But he wasn’t the only of Schröder’s understudies to raise some eyebrows tonight. Keon Johnson didn’t have an impressive night in the box score but was once again effective from an eye-test perspective, moving around the defense like a snake through water to get the defense off balance and queue up open looks.
He also finished off a few of those sequences himself, going 2-6 from deep tonight.
It was long thought that Brooklyn’s only options at the point this year were Dennis Schröder, Ben Simmons, and perhaps a dash of Cam Thomas should his game develop accordingly. But with injuries taking those two out, and even with Simmons being more part of the center rotation than point guard one anyway, that’s no longer the case.
The results haven’t blown us away. If anything, they’re more like a cool breeze — enjoyable to experience but not much to remark on, especially after an ugly loss like that. However, the combination of Milton and Johnson behind Schröder has proven itself serviceable, even with Dennis remaining the most important player on offense.
Dariq Whitehead Making Progress
All eyes were on Day’Ron Sharpe making his season debut tonight, but of Brooklyn’s youngsters, Dariq Whitehead warranted more attention.
As a career 32.6 percent shooter from deep in the G-League, his shot has been just as concerning as his ability to get on-ball separation during his ramp-up and development over the past two years. He did shoot 6-of-12 from beyond the arc in his last appearance on Long Island on Sunday but stayed glued to the bench for Brooklyn’s last three games.
It wasn’t long enough for any ice to form around him — even with the Nets being up North in the Windy City. Whitehead sprayed the Bulls from deep tonight, going 6-of-10 from downtown to finish with a team-high 18 points...
At no point did Whitehead’s inefficiencies in the G League deter his shot profile. With primary ball-handlers Johnson, Schröder, and Milton all playing 29 or more minutes tonight, he spent much of his evening lurking around the arc as a floor spacer, pulling it without restraint when called upon...
At 20 years and 123 days old, the Duke product became the youngest player in team history to hit six triples in a game. With this being Whitehead’s fifth run at the NBA level, he also became the first player in franchise history to make four or more threes in a game within the first five games of his NBA career.
For those of you trying to walk the line between tanking and rooting for good basketball, this outing from Whitehead gives you some extra footing. Brooklyn got a good contribution from one of their youngest players and still tacked on a loss that’ll improve their lottery odds. Check and check.
We’re Running Out of Excuses for the Rebounding
With Sharpe’s return tonight, the expectation that Brooklyn might improve their league-worst rebounding percentage followed. Sure, the combined absences of Ben Simmons and Dorian Finney-Smith resembled a factor. But getting your hungriest glass eater back in the mix should bode well for you, right?
Wrong. While the Nets had no shortage of statistical disadvantages tonight, their -13 differential on the boards was perhaps the most disappointing. While the Nets do rank as the league’s worst rebounding team, the Bulls rank in the bottom-10 in board percentage as well, putting them within their reach at the bottom.
Alas, Josh Giddey, with 13 rebounds, had more than anyone on Brooklyn tonight. Nikola Vucevic out-rebounded Claxton with 10 to his eight. Sharpe pulled down just one.
It was also Sharpe’s first game back. He also only played 16 minutes. The Nets also missed four of their other leading rebounders for the year with Ziaire Williams and Cameron Johnson joining Simmons and Finney-Smith in street clothes. That’s all heard and understood.
But the point is, even if the Nets have somewhat of an excuse for their poor rebounding, this is the beginning of the end for it. While rebounding is a team effort, especially for a team that switches as much as the Nets do, it all still starts with your bigs. Brooklyn’s are back now and they need to find their appetite for glass.
