Tag: Taurean Prince

Nets’ shooting performance vs. Raptors one of their worst in 2019-20

The Brooklyn Nets could not find their stroke against the Toronto Raptors. Generally, it’s hard to win when shots don’t go down.

There have only been three instances in which the Brooklyn Nets have shot worse than 40% from the floor as a team in a game. To no one’s surprise, the Nets have lost in each of those games, the most recent instance being Saturday’s 110-102 loss to the Toronto Raptors, in which Brooklyn logged a 38.6 field goal percentage.

The other two instances were the 101-93 loss to the Denver Nuggets (37.9%) on November 14 — Kyrie Irving’s last game before his stretch on the sideline due to a right shoulder impingement — and Brooklyn’s 115-86 loss to the Indiana Pacers (35.7%) on November 18.

Additionally, Saturday marked the eighth time the Nets shot worse than 30% from three. Brooklyn has now gone 3-5 in such games. Against the Raptors, the Nets only made 26.1% of their 3-point attempts.

Taurean Prince (4-for-9) and David Nwaba (2-for-4) did well from long-range and Spencer Dinwiddie (2-for-6) was OK.

The biggest issues from deep were Joe Harris (1-for-6) and Garrett Temple 2-for-14). Aside from those two, the rest of the Nets shot 34.6% (9-for-26) from three.

RELATED: Joe Harris passes Deron Williams on Nets’ all-time 3-pointers made list

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RELATED: Nets lose 110-102 to Pascal Siakam, Raptors

Nets lose 110-102 to Pascal Siakam, Raptors

The Brooklyn Nets were unable to finish off their big battle north of the border against the reigning NBA champs.

The Brooklyn Nets had their first shot at the 2019 NBA champion Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Unfortunately for Spencer Dinwiddie and company, Pascal Siakam and his teammates proved to be too much, as the Raptors won 110-102.

Siakam scored a game-high 30 points for the Raptors, with 25 coming in the first half. Brooklyn held him to two baskets on 12 attempts in the second half, but Serge Ibaka scored 10 points between the final two quarters and Norman Powell had 16.

For the Nets, four of the five starters finished with 10 or more points. The one outlier was Jarrett Allen, though he grabbed 10 rebounds, thus extending his streak of games with 10 or more rebounds to 10.

Dinwiddie led the charge with 24 points. He has scored 20 or more points in 12 of the 14 contests in which Kyrie Irving has been absent. He also logged eight assists in the loss

Garrett Temple finished with 16 points, Taurean Prince had 14 and Joe Harris scored 13.

Harris’s lone made 3-pointer (on six attempts) was the 486th of his Nets career. He surpassed Deron Williams on the franchise’s all-time 3-pointers made list.

Prince also had 10 rebounds, logging his fifth double-double of the season in the process. He only had five double-doubles between his last two seasons combined.

David Nwaba had another strong offensive showing off the bench. He scored 10 on 4 of 8 shooting (2-for-4 from three).

DeAndre Jordan led the Nets with 13 rebounds. Rodions Kurucs saw a surge in minutes (17:57) and finished with seven rebounds.

RELATED: Jarrett Allen accomplished something no Net has since 2012-13

RELATED: Joe Harris passes Deron Williams on Nets’ all-time 3-pointers made list

RELATED: Which Nets will be challenged most in back-to-back vs. Raptors, Sixers

Which Nets will be challenged most in back-to-back vs. Raptors, Sixers

The Nets have two difficult games ahead of them on Saturday and Sunday. Several players on Brooklyn’s roster will face major challenges.

Part of the reason it was important for the Nets to win each of their two recent games against the Charlotte Hornet was Brooklyn has a challenging back-to-back in front of them.

Saturday, they’re on the road against the Toronto Raptors. Then they head back to Barclays Center to face the Philadelphia 76ers. Two teams toward the top of the Eastern Conference.

Now, both teams have some impressive guards in Kyle Lowry (Raptors) and Ben Simmons (Sixers), so Spencer Dinwiddie and Garrett Temple will be busy. But their best players are bigs.

Toronto has Pascal Siakam. Philadelphia has Joel Embiid — who just torched the Boston Celtics.

Now, the Raptors also have Marc Gasol and Philly has Al Horford — assuming he’s healthy by Sunday. Both create problems — different ones from one another — but Siakam and Embiid set the tone for their respective teams.

Either way, four Nets are going to be very busy for the next two games: Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince, DeAndre Jordan and Wilson Chandler.

Now, Chandler won’t be available until Sunday. He’ll have to help with Horford and keep track of him along the perimeter whenever he spells Prince. The forward will get the chance to prove his worth right away.

Though, Prince has to worry about Saturday’s game first. Siakam improved immensely in 2018-19, and he’s better this year if you can believe it. This is a big test for Prince, and he’ll need some help from Brooklyn’s two centers.

For Allen and Jordan, Embiid will be a tough matchup, of course. He’s the game’s best center.

And Sunday’s game could be one where Jordan starts. As much as Embiid can shoot the three a bit, teams are willing to give up the long ball. They’d rather put up a fight in the paint.

Either way, Allen’s strength will be challenged — big time. Even if he struggles, a matchup with Embiid should give the young center a greater understanding of how he needs to further his game in order to continue his ascension as one of the NBA’s better centers.

RELATED: Kyrie Irving’s on-court work has ‘ramped up,’ still out vs. Raptors

Nets’ big lead slips away, lose to Hornets by five

The Brooklyn Nets lost a very winnable game to the Charlotte Hornets. At one point, Brooklyn led by 20.

The Brooklyn Nets held a sizeable lead over the Charlotte Hornets for much of the night on Wednesday — leading by as much as 20 at one point — but could not finish the job. Charlotte outscored the Nets 60-44 in the second half and went on to win 113-108.

A large part of what led to the Hornets’ comeback was the play of Charlotte guard Devonte’ Graham. In his 37 minutes of action, Graham scored 40 points on 12 of 21 shooting (7 of 12 from deep). He also had five rebounds and five assists.

What also hurt the Nets was Joe Haris (1-for-8), Garrett Temple (1-for-5), Taurean Prince (1-for-5) and Spencer Dinwiddie’s (2-for-9) struggles from three. As a team, Brooklyn shot 26.3% from deep. Overall, Prince went 2-for-12 from the field.

Dinwiddie still led the Nets in scoring with 24 points, finishing 8-for-16 from the floor (5-for-7 from two). He also had six assists.

Jarrett Allen scored 21 on an efficient 7-for-9 shooting. He also had 10 rebounds, logging another double-double.

Brooklyn’s bench offered a healthy amount of scoring, finishing with 37 points between the five reserves who played. Theo Pinson scored 12 on 5-for-9 shooting (2-for-4 from three).

DeAndre Jordan finished one point shy of a double-double, grabbing with 14 boards in his 22 minutes of action.

Nets outlast Nuggets in 105-102 finish

Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen were lights out in Brooklyn’s win over the Nuggets on Sunday.

Not only did Brooklyn knock off one of the top teams in the Western Conference on Sunday, the Nets were also tested every step of the way in their 105-102 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Taurean Prince has a low-scoring night, but he helped chip in for the Nets when they needed it most, scoring seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter.

Spencer Dinwiddie scored four of Brooklyn’s final eight points of the game — his final basket being the game-winner. The point guard led Brooklyn throughout the night, scoring 24 points on an efficient 10-for-17 shooting. He also dished out a team-high eight assists and grabbed four rebounds.

Another game, another double-double for Jarrett Allen. This time he scored 19 and grabbed 11 boards.

Garrett Temple scored 15 points and Joe Harris finished with 13.

RELATED: Kyrie Irving to practice with Nets soon, Caris LeVert progressing

RELATED: Spencer Dinwiddie among Nets to receive 2K20 ratings bump, Garrett Temple takes a hit

Spencer Dinwiddie among Nets to receive 2K20 ratings bump, Garrett Temple takes a hit

The people at NBA 2K have been impressed with Jarrett Allen’s play of late, but feel DeAndre Jordan hasn’t lived up to his previous rating.

It’s not exactly a secret Spencer Dinwiddie has been dominant for the Brooklyn Nets over the last couple of weeks. Since Kyrie Irving was sidelined with a right shoulder impingement, He’s been Brooklyn’s top scorer and is now one of 28 players in the NBA averaging at least 20 points per game.

As a result, Dinwiddie was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 5 and was a nominee for Week and for November’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month. But the recognition doesn’t end there for Dinwiddie.

The latest NBA 2K20 ratings updates have been released, and Dinwiddie was among those who received a bump. Dinwiddie started the year with an overall rating of 80 and is now an 83.

Jarrett Allen was also bumped up to an 81 and Joe Harris is now a 78.

But not everyone received a bump in the latest update. Some have lived up to and maintained their current rating. Then there are who haven’t.

Apparently, the people at 2K feel five Nets have been slight disappointments. DeAndre Jordan (81), Taurean Prince: (76), Rodions Kurucs (74), Garrett Temple (73) and Iman Shumpert (72) each saw their individual ratings drop by a point.

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

Nets overcome early deficit, defeat Hornets 111-104

Three members of the Brooklyn Nets logged double-doubles in Friday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets.

It took a little while for the Brooklyn Nets to gain an edge, but they were able to sneak past the Charlotte Hornets on Friday with a 111-104 win.

Jarrett Allen had himself another double-double — his seventh in a row — but, this time, he was not the only Net to do so.

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 13 points — marking only the second time he’s scored less than 20 since Kyrie Irving was sidelined by a right shoulder impingement — and logged a season-high 12 assists.

As a whole, the Nets distributed the ball well. Taurean Prince and Joe Harris had five assists apiece, Garrett Temple finished with four and DeAndre Jordan, Dzanan Musa and Iman Shumpert each had three.

Jordan had himself a double-double, too. He grabbed 13 rebounds and scored a season-high 16 points.

Both Jordan and Allen blocked a pair of shots.

Harris drilled a season-high six 3-pointers on eight attempts. He led the Nets with 22 points.

Prince was efficient in his 16-point performance. He went 6-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-4 from deep.

David Nwaba continues to provide a spark off the bench on both offense and defense. In 16 minutes of action, he scored a season-high 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting (2-for-3 from long-range).

The Nets had a premier rebounding performance in win against Hawks

The Brooklyn Nets are one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA

With Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan being their top two rebounders, the Brooklyn Nets have been one of the NBA’s top rebounding teams this season.

The Nets’ quality rebounding showed Wednesday in their 130-118 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

According to the Nets public relations staff, Brooklyn tied a season-high in offensive rebounds (18) and beat the Hawks in the rebound battle by 18 boards; the Nets had 53, and Atlanta had 35. Per Nets PR, it was the Nets’ largest rebound margin this season.

The Nets rank sixth in the league for rebounds per game (47.1), according to NBA.com stats. They’re tied for ninth in offensive rebounds (10.7) with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Allen, the team’s anchor in the middle, is having a career season when it comes to working the boards. He leads the Nets in rebounds and is averaging a career-high (10.6). Allen is also averaging career-highs in points (12.0) and field goal percentage (67.1%).

Along with Allen, Jordan is also having a good year rebounding the ball. Throughout his career, Jordan has been one of the NBA’s top rebounders, ranking fifth among active players in total rebounds (9,055).

This season, Jordan is averaging 9.2 rebounds per game; it’s the first time he’s averaged fewer than 10 rebounds since the 2012-13 season.

Aside from their leading big men, the Nets have also gotten rebounding contributions from some of their guards and wings. Taurean Prince, Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert are all grabbing at least 5.0 rebounds a game. Each player is averaging a career-high in rebounds, according to Basketball Reference.

With the Nets having rebounding come from multiple players, that helps them with pace and earning possession.

The Nets rank eighth in pace. They’ve won seven of their last 10, and in each of those wins they had a pace of at least 95.0, according to NBA.com. Their highest pace in this 10-game stretch was 109.50 in a win against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 16.

The Nets will play on the road Friday against the Charlotte Hornets at 7 p.m. EST.

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Garrett Temple shows why he’s a pro’s pro every night

Garrett Temple continues to proves why he was a major acquisition for the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason.

Garrett Temple was brought in to do all the little things off the bench, play staunch defense and provide Brooklyn with another option along the perimeter on the offensive end.

He was also someone who caught Kyrie Irving’s attention because he is an established veteran presence in the NBA. Even though the Nets lost some of their veteran leadership in the offseason, they gained Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan — as well as Temple, who has become one of the more prominent voices on the team.

After he had another strong shooting night on Wednesday, Temple’s teammates were quick to praise him. They mentioned his scoring and the things he brings on the floor, but Joe Harris, for instance, was quick to talk to reporters about Temple’s character:

Yeah, GT, I mean, [Iman Shumpert] actually says it, from the moment he got here, he’s a pro’s pro. That’s sort of his reputation around the league. He’s the ultimate professional. Comes in, he just takes care of his business. He’s a great leader in the locker room. And then, obviously, he has nights like tonight, too, where he’s able to come up big, score the ball for us. But he always does the little stuff, regardless of how he’s shooting it, playing offensively. You know the intangible things are gonna be there, and the stuff on the defensive end is always gonna be [there].

Taurean Prince was asked about the difference he’s seen in the Hawks — who he played well against — from when he was in Atlanta last year. He talked about Vince Carter’s impact and illustrated how Temple is doing something similar for Brooklyn:

I think the ability to stay together off the court is what the veterans bring. And guys like Garrett Temple, Iman and DeAndre do a great job of keeping everybody together, along with, obviously, Kyrie and KD.

But no one had higher praise for Temple than Jarrett Allen:

[Temple] fits in so well, on and off the court, honestly. On the court, you saw what he did tonight. He came out, he dominated [from] the 3-point line. He scored from every facet from the game. And off the court, he’s the leader. He’s telling us what to do off the court. he’s just telling us how to live our lives, too.

Allen also added:

You gotta give it to the front office and Kenny [Atkinson], they bring in guys that they think are gonna mesh well, and Garrett Temple’s the perfect example of that. He came in, he didn’t try to push hard, he didn’t try to be overbearing, he kinda snuck his way into being our vet.

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

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