Spencer Dinwiddie is an All-Star
The Brooklyn Nets are 16-13 (9-5 at home) and sit at the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference. They are doing well without superstar point guard Kyrie Irving as they have gone 9-5 since he got sidelined with a shoulder injury. Starting two-guard Caris LeVert has also been out for over six weeks.
Spencer Dinwiddie has taken over the playmaking duties with the team’s starting backcourt out, and he’s been filling out the holes superbly. The 26-year-old is dropping 26.1 points and 7.2 assists per game ever since being inserted in the starting line-up in November 16th. In fact, he’s actually averaging 37 in his last three, including a career-high 41 points last Friday against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Nets are also scattering the production well. Excluding Irving, LeVert, and Dinwiddie, four more guys aver averaging in double figures – wings Joe Harris, Taurean Prince, Garrett Temple, and big man Jarrett Allen – with each of the wing players also being reliable shooters. Allen (12.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.4 BPG) is also being backed up by yet another veteran defensive gem in the paint, DeAndre Jordan.
Brooklyn is 2-0 against the Knicks this season.
Still the ‘Meme Team’
The New York Knickerbockers. Welp. They are 7-24, losers of three in a row, and only one game back from being at the very bottom of the East. Also, although we’re all pretty aware of this stuff: they are the laughing stock of the league.
All the horridness from both ends of the floor are well-reflected in the stat sheet. The Knicks are dead-last in scoring, 29th in assists, 27th in offensive efficiency, 28th in defensive efficiency, and 29th in opponent three-point shooting.
The offense have some interesting pieces in there, but it’s either raw, like 19-year-old rookie RJ Barrett (14 PPG), or a little down the pecking order in terms of what a main option should be, like Marcus Morris (18.4 PPG) and Julius Randle (17.9 PPG). The latter two have been more than decent, but they shouldn’t be the night in, night out go-to guys. There’s a reason why they have bounced teams in seasons past.
PREDICTION:
The Nets get the win, 118-108, courtesy of another big night from Spencer Dinwiddie.
