Dorian Finney-Smith’s return to lineup spreads holiday cheer

One of Brooklyn’s most popular (and valuable) players is set to return on Sunday, and was the main talking point of Saturday’s practice

Dorian Finney-Smith has missed eight games this season, including six of the Brooklyn Nets’ last seven with a sprained left ankle.

But finally, Finney-Smith is nowhere to be found on the initial injury report for Sunday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks, and his team is rejoicing.

“Whether he’s on the court, on the bench, his presence is very important and his teammates feel the same way,” said Head Coach Jordi Fernández on Saturday. “Whenever he is back, active and playing, we’ll be very happy to have him.”

And why wouldn’t they be? The Nets have destroyed teams whenever DFS is between the lines…

Trendon Watford explained why that is: “Doe brings toughness, veteran leadership that he brings to any team. I think that’s what he’s made his name off of, just him being a leader and him being that tough guy, him just being a knock-down shooter and knock-down defender. We know what Doe brings every night and we definitely can use it.”

Still, Brooklyn has not totally faltered during Finney-Smith’s absences this season. They are 4-4 in the eight games he’s missed, but that didn’t make it any easier for DFS to sit on the sidelines with an injury he tried to play through, according to Fernández: “Even if he’s not feeling great, he’s still gonna tell me that he’s good to go. And I gotta save him from himself at times.”

In the grand scheme of things, DFS is a valuable role player on, right now, the 20th-best team in the league, and is widely expected to be moved before this year’s trade deadline. It makes sense. Brooklyn is prioritizing their future, and Finney-Smith will turn 32 years old during the 2025 NBA playoffs, after which he will likely opt out of the final year of his contract.

And yet, there has been nary a question about his commitment to the team so far this season. Furthermore, he might be playing the best ball of his nine-year career so far. Both the Nets and any potential suitors hope that continues to be the case when he is re-inserted into the lineup on Sunday afternoon. What exactly GM Sean Marks’ asking price is for the veteran forward is, which teams will truly be in on him after the unofficial start of trade season on December 15, who knows?

What’s indisputable, though, is that DFS has never shot the ball like this. Never as frequently, never as accurate. Through 15 appearances, he is shooting 42.2% from deep on 9.5 3PA per 100 possessions. (For reference, JJ Redick shot 41.5% on 9.9 3PA per 100 over his career.)

Even more impressive? Dorian is shooting 25-of-51 on above-the-break (non-corner) threes, continuing to transform himself into a reliable small-ball big, with his best stretches of play looking something like this…

Finney-Smith attempted to explain his fiery start after Saturday’s practice: “I put the work in this summer, obviously, but the coaching staff and this team, everybody just be on me when I turn down shots and I’m not aggressive. When your team believe in you that much, it feels good. You know, Coach, he telling my family, ‘man, if he don’t shoot the ball…’ so now you got wifey and my mom and them telling me, ‘coach telling me you need to shoot.’ So, he’s even creeping into my house.”

Despite career-best numbers, the beloved Net says his teammates and coaches are still on him to keep shooting that thing, even when some early attempts don’t go his way.

“It’s mental. You know, I can’t have a [Cam Thomas] mindset. CT, I wish I had his mindset, that’s a great mindset to have. But it ain’t me, you know? But I’m working on it, work in progress.”

Finney-Smith will be thrown right into the fire on Sunday afternoon, when the Nets take on a Milwaukee Bucks team that is suddenly playing to their potential, 9-3 in their last 12 games after a dreadful start to the season. And if DFS starts in the frontcourt next to Nic Claxton as expected, he’ll be getting the Giannis Antetokounmpo assignment. Welcome back!

“I know we got the win [last time], but that doesn’t mean anything,” said Fernández. “They are a very good team. We’re going to go there to fight from the first quarter and that’s our mindset, the same that it’s been against everybody else.”

This time, though, Brooklyn will have Dorian Finney-Smith to help them scrap, and if recent history is any indication, that could make all the difference in the world. They may also have their other injured forward, Noah Clowney, who was listed as questionable on the initial injury report after missing Brooklyn’s last four games with a sprained ankle.

Brooklyn’s head coach says the team spent this weekend’s two practices mostly focusing on rest and re-integrating those players returning from injury: “Just getting those guys comfortable to what we’re running with those groups. Defensively, revisiting some things that we haven’t worked on in a long time. So, a lot of pick-and-roll defense, with all the new bodies we have.”

Brooklyn supporting Long Island

Five Brooklyn Nets, all G League alum, made the trip over the Cross Island Parkway on Friday night to watch the Long Island Nets take on the Delaware Bluecoats.

Unfortunately, Long Island lost their sixth straight game, but sophomore Dariq Whitehead scored 21 points on 9-of-20 shooting, dropping three assists and zero turnovers to boot. Whitehead is looking to build on two of his best performances as a pro: a 26-point outing with Long Island two weeks ago, then an 18-point outing with the big league club in Chicago.

Jordi Fernández applauded the camaraderie from his guys, and their efforts to go support Whitehead & Co, “because as you guys know, traffic is — it can be brutal in this part of the world. And I think it means a lot for everybody that those guys take the time to do it, because a lot of them, they have done it themselves. And it also shows that we’re not different teams. We’re the same team, we’re the same club, and we’re supporting each other in different ways. They support us by developing the younger guys. We’ll support them as well, and we’ll go from there. So it’s like they’re not forced to do it and they do it. You can see that that means a lot.”

However, the only Long Island Net that will be available for Sunday’s game is Tyrese Martin. Jaylen Martin remains out with a knee injury, and Yongxi Cui and Dariq Whitehead are designated as out due to their G League assignments.

Tip-off on Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.