Nets big man Blake Griffin has seen his role shrink with the impressive play of LaMarcus Aldridge, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Griffin started last season and in Brooklyn’s first 18 games this year, but he was replaced by Aldridge against the Celtics on Wednesday.
In addition to losing his starting spot, Griffin also didn’t receive minutes off the bench. Head coach Steve Nash opted to play James Johnson and Paul Millsap instead, and the duo helped the Nets secure a 123-104 road victory.
“We just need to look at different things,” Nash said. “I think it picked up our pace. [Aldridge is] not the fastest guy on the floor, but we played with pace. We played with ideas. We weren’t stagnant. We moved the ball. I thought we defended well.
“Overall, the spirit was really good. That’s what we’ve been asking from this group is to have a great spirit and pick each other up and push for more, get better.”
There’s more from the Eastern Conference today:
- Nets swingman DeAndre’ Bembry is showing the team he deserves more minutes, Mark Sanchez of the New York Post opines. In 18 games this season, Bembry is averaging 5.1 points in 18.6 minutes per contest, shooting 41% from three-point range. He has failed to exceed 30% from deep in each of his last three seasons.
- Magic guard Markelle Fultz discussed a variety of topics with former NBA player Etan Thomas on BasketballNews.com’s The Rematch (podcast link), including his injuries, love of the game and facing adversity. Fultz has yet to play this season as he rehabs from a torn ACL.
- Chris Kirschner of The Athletic examines the close connection between Hawks players Bogdan Bogdanovic and Clint Capela. Bogdanovic and Capela have been teammates for two seasons, but, as Kirschner details, their relationship extends past basketball.
Blake Griffin is another star the Lakers need!
Aldridge should start. But you don’t want to give him a lot of mins. Need him strong for playoffs. Nets need everyone for playoffs.
They move Kyrie. Then they will probably be favorites.
Suns playing real good right now. Big difference between them and Knicks. They got smacked with reality. Mitch is still out of shape. And Randle is just not playing right. Suns showed what a team offense looks like. Plus they also play D. It was a spanking
Hope Knicks take it out on Hawks. Tough part of schedule now.
I need to see Randle duplicate his last year before I completely trust him. I expected Barrett to take a giant step this year
BKN has a great FO chief. Even with 3 guys making over 120 mm, Marks has shown an ability to both fill out his bench, and bring young players into the organization. I can’t remember any team with multiple max guys dominating their payroll that was able to do both on this level.
I believe his convincing two of his 2nd round picks to sign G-league contracts should be something the league should look at, but it was within the rules and is another win for him (Nets practically have 19 guys, including the 2 way guys, that are currently available, 6 of them in their first professional season).