There was a moment late in Wednesday night’s game, between the Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers, where it was clear Brooklyn needed to be reminded of something.
Brooklyn Nets Caris LeVert (No.22) and Spencer Dinwiddie (No. 8) (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Less than 48 hours earlier, the Nets had just snapped a three-game losing streak which threatened to derail their push for the playoffs. They did so with a convincing 127-88 blowout win over the Dallas Mavericks.
The win over Dallas was big for Brooklyn, but in order to re-establish their pursuit of clinching their first playoff spot since the 2014-15 season, they needed to take care of business again versus Cleveland.
Because, here’s the reminder: The Nets have not clinched anything yet.
It’s not clear how this memo was given, but it was. The Nets definitely received it around the beginning of the fourth quarter against the Cavaliers.
Caris LeVert scored nine of Brooklyn’s first 13 points in the final period to help them regain a lead they wouldn’t relinquish again. Spencer Dinwiddie took over from there and helped drive the Nets to a 113-107 win, at Barclays Center.
In the win over Dallas, head coach Kenny Atkinson tinkered with his rotation by moving LeVert to the second unit with Dinwiddie. The move paid off as LeVert wound up having his best game since returning from the injured list. It’s revamped the second unit with a more potent offensive attack led by the duel.
Atkinson liked the results and decided to stick with it for the Cleveland game. This once again paid dividends. Dinwiddie finished with a game-high 28 points, LeVert added 14 points.
“Those two guys, I thought they turned it up,” said Atkinson afterwards. “Our offense, we’re struggling. And we really needed those two guys tonight. I think they did a good job.”
There’s no downplaying what having LeVert and Dinwiddie back from the injured list means for Brooklyn.
They both are skilled at attacking the basket with their downhill style of play. This puts pressure on the defense and eventually creates better looks for shooters, like Joe Harris. In the fourth quarter against Cleveland, the duel was relentless in their drives into the paint.
“Big time,” said Nets All-Star D’Angelo Russell after the game. “Those guys – I don’t think anybody in the league can really stay in front of those two, so when they’re getting downhill, making it easy for us on the offensive end, I think that makes everybody’s job easy.”
LeVert and Dinwiddie have given the Nets two key components for their playoff push.
They’re a dangerous 1-2 scoring punch off the bench. Their ability to get into the paint and create for others or score themselves give opposing teams plenty to worry about on defense.
“They just keep coming at you,” Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who’s 24 points and 16 rebounds led the way for Cleveland, said after the game. “I think their guards really set the tone for them. They’re playing downhill, they play for each other. You saw that at the start of the fourth quarter – they went on that run. They went on that big run towards the end there, and we just couldn’t fight our way back at the end.”
The Nets have the shooting to take out their opponents, they’ll need that in order to have success in a playoff series. But their ability to move the basketball and drive to the basket, specifically LeVert and Dinwiddie, gives their offense balance dangerous enough to give opposing coaches headaches trying to scheme against.
With a balanced offense beginning to regain its form, and 15 games left on the schedule, the Nets now must buckle up for the stretch run.
The Nets have a Saturday night road game against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks next up. They’ll then come home for a Monday night matchup with Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons. The Nets are currently two games behind Detroit in the loss column for the sixth spot in the NBA East.
With Miami and Orlando breathing down their backs, the margin of error for the Nets is extremely slim.
It doesn’t get easier. A seven-game road trip awaits the Nets which may ultimately decide their fate. In the meanwhile, the reminder to take care of business remains. Atlanta, even with the spectacular play of Young, is still a team with a below .500 record. This is a game the Nets, much like against Cleveland and Dallas, need to come away with.
