Spencer Dinwiddie is the unquestioned leader of the Brooklyn Nets at the moment, in victory and in defeat.
Although Spencer Dinwiddie is garnering plenty of praise for his All-Star like play of late, the Brooklyn Nets point guard has no issue accepting blame in defeat. Following a tight loss to James Harden and the Houston Rockets, Dinwiddie took ownership for his lackluster performance.
“We boxed-and-1 [James] Harden and Harden had 40. He still found a way to manufacture points for his team,” Dinwiddie said via SNY. “There are no excuses. … If I do my job, we win this game. That’s kind of what it is at the end of the day.”
It’s unfair to pin the defeat solely on one individual—especially when one takes into consideration that the Nets shot just 40.2% from the field and 28.2% from distance—but such accountability is what makes Dinwiddie a fan-favorite in Brooklyn.
The rising star acknowledges that to beat premier teams in the league, especially as a shorthanded squad, he’s going to have to shoot better than 6-for-20 from the field and 5-for-11 from the free-throw line, as was the case in Houston.
As a starter, he’s averaging 25.6 points, 7.2 assists, and 3.4 rebounds on 43.3% shooting. Those stats are translating to winning. The Nets are 12-8 in 20 games with Dinwiddie as a starter and he’s receiving legitimate consideration for an All-Star nod.
With Dinwiddie in the starting lineup, the Nets have yet to experience a three-game losing streak. They’ll try to keep that going with a turnaround victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night (8 p.m. ET) after back-to-back losses against the New York Knicks and Rockets.
