The already short-handed Brooklyn Nets could be without the services of Garrett Temple, who is questionable for Thursday’s game in Dallas.
The injury bug has been of unfortunate significance all year for the Brooklyn Nets. Garrett Temple, its newest victim, is listed as “questionable” for Thursday’s bout against the Dallas Mavericks, according to the NBA’s 1:30 p.m. ET injury report on Thursday.
No real surprises here, Temple joins five fellow teammates all reported as “out” on the injury report: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Caris LeVert, Nicolas Claxton, and David Nwaba.
Since Irving suffered a shoulder injury on Nov. 14, Temple has yet to start a game on the bench. In fact, the Nets’ starting five has remained constant since that date, illustrating some sense of continuity.
Temple’s play (both offensive and defensively) is a key reason why the Nets have stayed afloat without Irving and LeVert.
Kenny Atkinson has asked him to start games, grab a quick breather on the sideline when the first reserves enter the game and initiate for the second unit once the remaining starters hit the bench. Temple has thus totaled 40+ minutes played in two of his last four games. He averaged 33.8 minutes-per-game for the month of December.
Temple’s signing this past June didn’t come with such intentions. Nonetheless, injuries can drastically change a team’s perspective.
His abilities as a secondary creator and ball-handler alleviate pressure off of Spencer Dinwiddie. If he were to miss this contest, expect Brooklyn’s already lackluster offense to struggle that much more.
Whatever the case, the Nets will look to return to the win column when they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.
