D’Angelo Russell‘s usage should skyrocket with Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson set to miss extended time. However, the 6-3 guard is now dealing with an injury of his own, so that may have to wait a while.
Russell did not play in the second half of Saturday’s recreation towards the Philadelphia 76ers due to a proper shin contusion, which left the Nets fully gutted in a 123-94 residence loss. He had 5 factors, 4 rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes.
Ben Simmons (decrease again harm administration) was additionally dominated out towards the Pacers. No Russell, Thomas or Simmons meant the Nets had been severely undermanned within the backcourt.
“You know, it’s next man up,” Fernandez mentioned. “As long as we have a 9, 10-man rotation, we’re in a good place. And I think that the guys, I want to see these guys, like I said before, taking the next step, doing things that they’re not accustomed to doing. It’s exciting. It’s exciting to see some guys handling more, some guys at the point guard more, some guys taking more shots, creating those shots, taking those different roles. So, it’s a good opportunity to see growth in a lot of these guys.”
Russell has averaged 12.7 factors, two rebounds and eight assists in three video games since becoming a member of the Nets. Simmons missed his third straight recreation on Monday. Fernandez didn’t present a timetable for when Russell or Simmons will return.
“We’re not going to rush [them] if they’re not 100% at play and if it could turn into something worse,” Fernandez mentioned. “For sure the number one thing for us is their health, their bodies. And we’ll have ten other bodies to go out there and fight”
WHITEHEAD CALLED UP
With Russell, Simmons and Thomas out, second-year guard Dariq Whitehead was known as up from the G League so as to add backcourt depth. The 20-year-old averaged 12.4 factors, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 13 video games on Lengthy Island this season.
“He’s done a good job trying to do what we ask him to do here, trying to go there in those games and do it too, how we want him to play in the NBA,” Fernandez mentioned. “Obviously, when we define a role for you, we want you to take the same shots, it’s just a different team obviously and you’ll play a certain number of minutes, maybe more. Still, we want you to play in a way that you come here, and you’ll do the same things. We’re happy with his attitude, the way he’s worked, and we want to see him keep getting better.”
MORE MINUTES FOR EVBUOMWAN?
There are clearly loads of minutes to go round with the Nets’ newest slew of accidents, and till guys get wholesome, that might imply extra minutes for two-way participant Tosan Evbuomwan.
Evbuomwan, who inked a two-way cope with Brooklyn final week, made his debut towards the 76ers and completed with three factors in 21 minutes. The England native grew to become the second Princeton alum to swimsuit up for the Nets all-time, becoming a member of Steve Goodrich.
“We don’t want to see anybody get hurt, but at the same time, now we have enough bodies to go out there and compete,” Fernandez mentioned. “So, opportunities that are important in life in general, and the NBA, it’s — you know, you see it all the time. Guys that, they see that window and an opportunity to take advantage of it.”
