Brooklyn Nets forward Royce O’Neale has been one of the players that have had to accept a bench role for Brooklyn after the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades. However, instead of putting his head down, O’Neale has embraced his role off the bench as a shooter and defender and he has fulfilled that role perfectly.
In Tuesday’s 118-96 win over the Houston Rockets, O’Neale had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and two steals as he was able to contribute in multiple ways for Brooklyn. His rebounding was pivotal in this game as he had to help with the rebounding since Nic Claxton and Nerlens Noel got into foul trouble early in the game. O’Neale also had one of his better shooting games as he went 2-of-4 from three-point land.
O’Neale essentially played starter’s minutes in this game as he played the second-most minutes for the Nets at 33. He was also +21 because of how good he was on both ends of the floor. O’Neale was a big part of a Nets bench that was incredible on Tuesday. He spoke on what the bench brought to the table for Brooklyn:
“Yeah, I mean, you know, we, as a bench coming off, we just wanted to bring a lot of energy, especially on the defensive end, help each other out. You know, like, led us to easy fast break points. And you know, we executed and, you know, built the lead from there.”
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