Have no fear, Joe Johnson is no longer here - for Nets vs. Nuggets

The Brooklyn Nets come into Denver with their 17-44 record, 4-6 in their last 10 games and losers of their last two — including a 107-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Rookie D’Angelo Russell scorched the Nets for a career-high 39 points on 14-21 shooting — including 8-12 from deep.

The Nets average just 97 points per game and surrender 103.6 to their opponents. That bodes well for Denver’s youngsters as Emmanuel Mudiay is coming off one of his finest offensive performances as he scored 22 points on 10-20 shooting (2-4 from three, 0-2 at the foul line) and dished out 7 assists to just 2 turnovers.

Mudiay has just four games of 20+ points with his career-high of 26 points coming back on Nov. 20th against the Phoenix Suns. Mudiay has 12 games of 15+ points this season in 47 games played. Mudiay plays the game with a good balance of scoring versus setting up teammates (5.8 assists per game) and his scoring average will climb once his percentages do the same.

On the season he’s shooting just 34.2 percent from the field, which ranks him last among 66 NBA players that take 12 shots per game or more (12.4 FGA). The best of the bunch belongs to Karl-Anthony Towns who shoots 53.6 percent on 13.3 shots per game. Some other point guards on that list include: Steph Curry ranks 5th at 51.4 percent on 20.1 FGA, Chris Paul ranks 24th at 46.6 percent on 15.4 FGA and Damian Lillard ranks 49th at 42.8 percent on 19.9 FGA. (Danilo Gallinari ranks 63rd on that list at 41 percent on 13.2 FGA.)

And as you can see from Mudiay’s shot chart (on the right), he has room to improve all over the court. Red means below league average, yellow means league average and green means above league average. His 40 percent shooting at the rim should go up as he makes strides in strength, awareness and touch and it’s not bad to see he has one hot spot on the 3-point line from the right elbow where he’s shooting 48.5 percent (16-33).

Hello and goodbye Joe Johnson

Back when these two teams faced off on Feb. 8th in Brooklyn, the Nets won the game on a last second buzzer beating 3-pointer from veteran Joe Johnson. Let’s relive that agonizing moment that erased Kenneth Faried‘s go-ahead bucket on the previous possession:

That shot took away the momentum the Nuggets were building heading into the All Star break. The team had won its previous two games ahead of that Brooklyn contest, but the gut punch delivered from Johnson spoiled what could have been a four-game win streak headed into the break. The Nuggets bounced back after that loss to beat the Pistons on Chauncey Billups‘ jersey retirement night at the Palace at Auburn Hills, but that game in New York was damaging.

But have no fear because Joe Johnson is no longer here… for the Nets. The veteran reached buyout terms with the Nets on Feb. 26th and Johnson has since signed with the Miami Heat where he’s averaging 14.7 points in three games. Stuck in despair with the Nets are veterans Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez, both who have offensive firepower.

Brooklyn doesn’t have much to play for the rest of the way as they do not own their first-round pick heading into the draft. That pick goes to the Boston Celtics as part of the trade that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn. As it stands now, the Celtics are to inherit the 4th overall pick from the Nets with a 37.8 percent chance at a top three pick.

Playing the Young Guns

Both the Nuggets and Nets are out of the playoff race, but Michael Malone wants to finish the season strong to “springboard” the team forward next season. Malone, who has been playing the young guys all season, is ready to give those guys more time in the fourth quarter.

This is good news for Nikola Jokic who only averaged 4.2 minutes per game in eight of the team’s 12 games in February. Also good news for Mudiay who averaged 6.4 minutes in 10 fourth quarters in February. Gary Harris appeared in all 12 fourth quarters in Feb. and averaged 7.1 minutes.

With Malone turning things over to the young guys, we’ll see if that means minutes for Jusuf Nurkic — who has been practicing, but not playing lately. Nurkic hasn’t appeared in Denver’s last five games (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision), but a good sign recently was Malone going with Joffrey Lauvergne at power forward alongside Jokic to close out the Lakers game on Wednesday — perhaps opening a backup role for Nurkic behind Jokic.

Axel Toupane makes his Nuggets debut

The Nuggets announced the signing of wing player Axel Toupane yesterday, his pro-player comparison might be that of more of a playmaking Thabo Sefolosha. Toupane could make his debut tonight as he’s with the team on a 10-day contract and is just 23 years-old.