Nets feel Taurean Prince can elevate his game to another level

Taurean Prince had a big night against his old team. Now Kenny Atkinson wants to see the forward have another strong game against Charlotte.

Taurean Prince had next to no issues finding the bottom of the basket in Atlanta on Wednesday. His homecoming went as well as he could’ve hoped, finishing with 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting (5-for-7 from three) in the 130-118 win over the Hawks.

Of course, Prince isn’t shooting 60% from the floor and 71.4% beyond the arc every night. But the problem with the forward has been just how far his efficiency numbers can dip down.

Prince is shooting 40.5% from beyond the arc this year — a bump from his 2018-19 average (39%), which is his career-high as of now. But his peaks and valleys are a bit too far apart.

The Nets see the same thing and expect him to tighten things up, as Kenny Atkinson told reporters in Atlanta on Wednesday.

What we’re asking from Taurean is more consistency. I think he’s got another level. He’s gotta do [what he did on Wednesday] again in Charlotte in a couple nights.

What’s wild is the Nets are still having a fair amount of success with Prince being inconsistent, while both Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert out, too.

RELATED: Nets Report Card: First quarter of 2019-20 season

RELATED: Report: Kyrie Irving could be out two more weeks