The Nets simply misplaced the one participant they couldn’t afford to lose.
Now, it stays to be seen how lengthy till they get again D’Angelo Russell.
The purpose guard was pressured out of Thursday’s 110-97 loss to the Cavaliers at Barclays Heart with a proper ankle sprain and didn’t return.
Since Russell joined the Nets, they entered the Cavs tilt 8-8 when he performed however 0-6 when he didn’t. That’s inauspicious.
The ground chief was displaying that type of affect once more Thursday, main the Nets to a 60-55 lead over a Cleveland crew tied for the most effective document within the NBA.
However he hopped off the ground with 8:39 left within the third quarter and by no means got here again.
Neither did the Nets’ momentum.
Keon Johnson (16 factors) instantly dedicated a turnover, and the Nets conceded an prolonged 28-11 run to fall behind by 12.
The Nets shot simply 5 of 15 with three turnovers throughout that blitz, the misses and giveaways fueling Cleveland’s transition sport.
Additionally they allowed 11-of-15 taking pictures to the guests, with Donovan Mitchell (game-high 26 factors) hitting a pull-up 3 to make it 83-71 with a minute left within the third.
The deficit swelled to twenty within the fourth.
Cam Johnson had a team-high 18.
However with out Russell — who completed with three factors and a team-high 5 assists — the assault sputtered.
Even Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson — who coached Russell in his first Nets go-around — famous earlier than the sport the guard’s significance.
“DLo is at the center of it,” Atkinson stated. “He’s a pure chief. He has pure charisma. I used to say with the Nets, he’s bought star charisma. He actually does. No matter that DNA is, DLo, you’ll be able to have your opinion about him, however DLo thinks he’s a star, is aware of he’s a star, and I really like that about him.
“He must be in the perfect place now, right? He’s kinda seen it all. He’s at that age where I assume he’s the alpha in that locker room. I’m just a big fan of the player, big fan of the leader, big fan of the person.”
The Nets have had a gaping gap at backup level guard behind Russell ever since shopping for out Ben Simmons, and so they had been pressured to make use of ahead Trendon Watford there.
They gave Killian Hayes — who had been toiling with G-League Lengthy Island — a 10-day contract to check out for that position.
Now, he could possibly be pressured into a fair heavier workload.
“Trendon can be the guy that you know runs the point guard, but at the same time, Trendon can be a 1, 2, 3, he’s multi-positional. So having a quote-unquote more like a traditional backup point guard also is good for us,” coach Jordi Fernandez stated. “Give it a look, this 10-day is important, not just for him, but also for us. And he can do the things we ask him to do, we know who he is. That’s the reason why we brought him in the first place.”
