• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – There has been much hype surrounding the new-look Brooklyn Nets, considering they’ve had a surprisingly good start to their season. Before Sunday’s contest between the Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn had been undefeated in three games at the Barclays Center. The Nets boast quality home wins over the Cleveland CavaliersAtlanta Hawks, and Orlando Magic. Denver had plans to hand the Nets their first home loss of the season. Unfortunately for Brooklyn fans, those plans came to fruition as the Nuggets beat the Nets 124-111. The loss to Denver brought the Nets down to a 3-4 record on the season.

Here are four major takeaways from Sunday’s loss to the Nuggets:

3rd Quarter Woes

(Photo Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY) Chandler scoring on a tough fade away shot, Sunday night.
(Photo Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY) Chandler scoring on a tough fade away shot, Sunday night.
  • The Nets came out ready to play in the first half. Brooklyn took a 63-60 lead going into halftime, but then it all went downhill in the second half. Denver pounced on the Nets in the third quarter, rallying off a 22-4 run. This young Brooklyn team was unable to recover from that run, and it eventually led to a Nets’ loss. Wilson Chandler helped propel the Nuggets with 14 points in the 3rd quarter. Chandler had success both attacking the rim and with his prowess from behind the arc. The Nets missed their first 10 of 11 shots in the third quarter, which helped dig the hole they were unable to climb out of. Chances are when you give up 40 points in a quarter, you will end up on the losing end.

Too Much Jokic

(Photo Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY) Jokic showed his offensive repertoire Sunday night.
(Photo Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY) Jokic showed his offensive repertoire Sunday night.
  • The Nets had no answer for Nikola Jokic all night long. Jokic tallied his third straight double double (21 points, 14 rebounds) in 29 minutes on the floor. The Nets got exposed by Jokic, in that Brooklyn has no real dominant interior defender. Timofey Mozgov has been a good addition, but clearly hasn’t imposed his will in the paint. Jokic got whatever shot he wanted off whether Mozgov or Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was guarding him.

The Dinwiddie Effect

(Photo Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY) Dinwiddie converting on a tough take on Jokic.
(Photo Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY) Dinwiddie converting on a tough take on Jokic.
  • Spencer Dinwiddie has easily been the biggest surprise for Brooklyn. When Dinwiddie is on the floor, the Nets do a good job of pushing the tempo and looking for the open man. Dinwiddie also does a great job of pressuring the opponent’s big men, by attacking the basket strong. Sunday night, Dinwiddie finished with 22 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals. Dinwiddie is a blue collar player that fits perfectly into the gritty team that Brooklyn is blossoming into. Coming off the bench this season, Dinwiddie is averaging 11.0 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 3.1 RPG.

The Forgotten Man

(Photo Credit: Barry Holmes) Whitehead greeting a fan last season.
(Photo Credit: Barry Holmes) Whitehead greeting “Mr. Whammy” last season.
  • There was a lot of excitement when Brooklyn drafted the hometown kid, Isaiah Whitehead. However to start the season, Whitehead’s role has been close to non existent. The second year player out of Seton Hall University, saw his first minutes of the season. Whitehead got five minutes of garbage time, and recorded just one assist. Moving forward it will be interesting to see how Brooklyn handles their PG situation. With Dinwiddie playing really good basketball and D’Angelo Russell as the starter, it looks like Whitehead is the odd man out.

Barry Holmes is a Senior Writer for PureSportsNY.com. Follow him on Twitter @BHO732

(Featured Photo Credit: Bobby O’Hara/PureSportsNY)

 

By Barry Holmes

Graduate of Millersville University, with a BS in Communications focused in Broadcast. Senior Writer & Social Media Manager for PureSportsNY.

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