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The Brooklyn Nets are trying to play their way into the Eastern Conference play-in tournament and they are running out of games to make up the ground between them and the Atlanta Hawks. As such, it seems that Brooklyn is willing to try anything to turn things around, including their rotation.
Heading into Thursday’s 115-108 loss at the Milwaukee Bucks, the Nets were going to be shorthanded once Dorian Finney-Smith was ruled out due to left ankle soreness. Things could have been much worse given that starting center Nic Claxton was listed as questionable due to an illness, but he was good to go by the time the game started.
What was surprising about Thursday’s game was the fact that backup center Day’Ron Sharpe, who played in every game that he was active for this season, did not step foot on the floor against the Bucks. From the looks of it, it seemed that Sharpe’s minutes went to an unlikely player: rookie first-round pick Noah Clowney. This was Sharpe’s first DNP of the season.
Clowney played 14 minutes and put up five points, four rebounds, and was a +10 during his time on the floor as he held up well against Milwaukee’s formidable frontline of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez. Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie spoke after the game about why he chose to go in that direction:
“It’s just about sacrifice and that was the conversation. I told him beforehand what I was going to do. Day’Ron’s probably not happy with it, I wouldn’t be happy with it, but I understand this is a team game and we have to be a team and I wanted to see Noah tonight and that’s what I went with.”