3 Takeaways after MinnesotaTimberwolves chow down on Brooklyn Nets

Another one bites the dust. Not an opponent, but a day closer to the lotto and draft.

The Brooklyn Nets waited longer to play the Minnesota Timberwolves than any other team this year. Tanking, or should I say “pick value optimization” implications aside, the hold out wasn’t worth it.

Tonight’s opponent, connected to the Nets only through Kevin Garnett, D’Angelo Russell, and Anthony Edwards in our dreams, slugged Brooklyn by a 105-90 score. With no lead changes beyond the opening minutes of the second quarter, the game had little to offer from an entertainment standpoint.

It was a long time coming (yes, even if only six days) for the Nets to take one on the chin like this being surprise winners of two in a row. Still, it wasn’t easy to take. Here’s what we learned.

If Not Mad, Max is Fearless

Maxwell Lewis’ season has had enough ups and downs that tagging it with the “rollercoaster” cliche would be a disservice to it. The 22-year-old came to Brooklyn midseason at the bottom of the shipment package carrying D’Angelo Russell. Then, on the first day of the calendar year, he had his first bucket, minute, and injury as a Net happen all at once.

Scary as it was to see him hitting a shot one second and then down on the floor a cut later, Lewis recovered from what was a fractured left tibia and returned to action on February 12th. Fernández played him sparingly up until mid-March. But since then, he’s logged double digit minutes in nine of his last 10 games.

That all led up to tonight, where Lewis got his first career NBA start. He wasted no time taking advantage, hoisting a team-high four shots in the first quarter even with nine other Nets seeing the floor in the period.

As seen above and on a corner triple attempt not too long after, Lewis flashed his quick trigger during his early burn, certainly to his coach’s liking. Fernández has been anything but mum while encouraging his guys to unload the clips on their long range shooting weaponry, misses and makes alike.

“The only thing I can say is, I don’t care about missed shots,” he said in late February. “Some shots are gonna go in. Some shots are not gonna go in…I don’t want them to shoot like they have to make a shot. Just let it fly.”

Lewis sure did, attacking mismatches and continuing to show no hesitation on catch-and-shoot opportunities until the final buzzer.

While he didn’t always get the desired result, finishing with a lukewarm 10 points while shooting 4-of-12 from the field and 2-of-8 from deep, he never looked timid. He even did the dirty work once at the defensive end to set up Claxton with a scoop and score…

“Yeah, I think their intentions were very good,” Fernández said postgame of Lewis and Dariq Whitehead. “They tried to do the right things, and they did it really hard, and that’s why we kept competing.”

Not only is confidence a key for young players in general, but it’s also one that unlocks doors leading to Fernández’s rotation, at least from an offensive standpoint. It currently averages the eighth most three-point attempts per 48 minutes this year despite ranking bottom five in percentage. So make or miss, Lewis has a shot to last here.

Tosan is Still Versatile as Ever

Tosan Evbuomwan showed up one day in the bleak midwinter, flashed about as wide of a skillset as anyone has on the Nets this year, and then vanished just as suddenly as he had arrived. Nearing his limit of active games by a two-way this season, he got dragged back to Long Island just as we were starting to get to know him.

While Evbuomwan returned for one late February and one late March game, tonight he was back back, playing 20+ minutes for the first time since February 10th. For anyone worried, he hasn’t changed a bit.

The do-it-all Princeton product finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, and three assists tonight while shooting 6-of-11 from the field. Those same crafty post moves, court vision, and ability to guard multiple positions were on full display. At one point, he pumped a shot before dumping it off in the post to Drew Timme, who even looked faked out by the move himself.

Whether or not a solid performance improves a player’s likelihood of being brought back next year is a hard question to escape when it comes younger guys on smaller contracts at this point in the season, but frankly, it’s still one for another day. This evening, however, he was as flexible and functional as ever. Kudos.

Ziaire Williams was Missed…But Not for the Reason You Think

When the topic of Ziaire Williams comes up, his lateral quickness around the perimeter, paired with his ability to hit a spoonful of threes each night, is where the conversation usually starts. Nonetheless, there’s more to it when it comes to this latest lottery pick turned glue guy’s game.

Whether coming in from the corner Derrick White style or just boxing out and utilizing his impressive vertical, Williams has quietly become one of Brooklyn’s best secondary rebounders this year. Outside of big men Day’Ron Sharpe, Nic Claxton, and the exiled Ben Simmons, he ranks first on the team in rebounding percentage this season. He’s also averaging a career-high in boards per 36 minutes…

Tonight, that was severely missed. The Nets didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, posting 43/31 splits en route to the loss, but Minnesota was no batch of deadeyes either, putting up 50/31 figures. While the field goal percentage is above average, it wasn’t always that way, with Wolves shooting a weak 41.9% at the half, but stayed a dozen.

The difference then? Appetite for glass. Brooklyn lost in the rebounding department by a 45-34 margin, giving up 16 second chance points in the process.

Being the best pound-for-pound rebounder on the team, Sharpe’s absence undoubtedly contributed here too, but you already knew that. Williams, however, could have been the next man up. Instead, he sat tonight due to “rest,” and the Nets lost.

Maybe the front office knows what it’s doing after all (joking, joking).