Dyson Daniels shined in his return to the court against his former side.
Plus it was a mixed Ben Simmons game in Brooklyn’s loss to Detroit including a question around his role moving forward lingers.
Read on on for all the latest in our NBA Wrap from Monday’s action (all times AEDT).
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DANIELS SHINES IN PELS REVENGE GAME
You get the feeling Dyson Daniels was never missing against his former team. As the Aussie young gun said himself, he “had this one circled.”
Dyson shined in his return from a hip injury in his first meeting with the New Orleans Pelicans since being traded during the off-season in the Atlanta Hawks’ 126-111 blowout road win.
Back from a two-game absence, Daniels did a bit of everything — scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting plus two triples, five rebounds, three assists and one steal in just 25 minutes to continue his breakout season.
After his second three in the fourth quarter, the 21-year old turned to the Pelicans bench and taunted them with a shooting celebration.
It was all love post-match though as Daniels warmly embraced with his former teammates and staff as well as some fans.
“It was a lot of fun, you know. Had this one circled, to come back here and play in front of the crowd that drafted me,” Daniels said post-match.
“I’m glad we came in and got the win, that’s the most important thing.
“But got to catch up with some good friends as well, I enjoyed it for sure.”
Jalen Johnson went off for Atlanta with 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting, nine rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks, while Trae Young dropped 23 points with five threes and 12 assists as the Hawks snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 3-4.
Brandon Ingram went off for a game-high 32 points in the losing effort, with the forward leaned on heavily for the undermanned Pelicans, now 3-4. They were missing Zion Williamson, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray, who was traded for Daniels, through injury.
Atlanta remains banged up as well with Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter sidelined, while Onyeka Okongwu was managed on the front-end of a back-to-back.
MIXED SIMMONS GAME AMID QUESTION ON ROLE
Ben Simmons’ Nets fell to the Detroit Pistons 106-92 in an early-morning clash on Monday to snap a two-game winning streak for Brooklyn.
Simmons led the 3-4 Nets in rebounds (six) and assists (six) but scored only four points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field with a steal in 24 minutes as the team continues to be conservative with his playing time.
Cam Johnson led all scorers with 26 points, while Cade Cunningham topped all five Pistons starters in double figures as the visiting team picked up their second win for the season to sit 2-5.
It was a mixed game for Simmons, who outduelled Josh Giddey on the weekend in the Aussies’ first ever NBA matchup, in an important contract season where Simmons is playing for a new deal.
The Aussie’s high-level playmaking was on full display against Detroit including some flashy and effective moments.
But the four shot attempts show Simmons is still not being aggressive with his shot compared to the All-Star Simmons of old that constantly put pressure on defences and could get to the rim at will.
It included one play in the second quarter where Simmons ran the floor on a fast break and had an open lane, but stopped and passed the ball to teammate Cam Johnson out at the 3-point line, which led to a turnover.
Moments like these highlight Simmons is still lacking confidence with his scoring game in an issue that has plagued him in recent seasons.
In fact, Simmons has attempted a total of just four free throws this season — which all came in one game against the Orlando Magic — a significant drop off from when he averaged just under five per game in his first four NBA seasons.
The 28-year old was replaced down the stretch of the fourth quarter by Nic Claxton, which hasn’t been uncommon for Simmons while the Nets manage his minutes.
But it does pose a question around Simmons’ role moving forward with Claxton, who himself has been on a more rigid minutes restriction, now ramping up from a hamstring strain and inching closer to a full workload.
Simmons has effectively been playing as a point centre for the Nets so far this season, and it’s hard to see him and Claxton sharing the floor a great deal given the spacing issues. Therefore, Simmons and Claxton’s roles are intrinsically linked.
After missing the pre-season with hamstring woes, Claxton has come off the bench in six of their seven regular-season tilts as he ramps up.
The one he missed came when he was held out of the win in Memphis on the tail end of a back-to-back
But as his minutes limit eases, he’s getting closer to the starting line-up.
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“Minute-wise, obviously it’s my secret that I’m going to keep for me and my team, especially before games. But he’s done good. We like where he is at right now,” coach Jordi Fernandez said over the weekend.
“Him taking one of the two games off was part of the plan because we have to be cautious. Health is the No. 1 thing.
“Right now, we just want to see him play consistently every game but also play more minutes. It’s going to happen. Obviously, I’m not going to tell when at the end of the day, but (everyone) will see it.”
With the Nets having two back-to-backs this week — Monday against the Pistons and Tuesday’s rematch vs. Grizzlies, then Saturday in Boston and Sunday at Cleveland — it begs the question of when he’ll be ready to play both ends.
“I want to see Nic play every game,” Fernandez said. “We’ll assess him then we will decide if he’ll play the first, second, or both. And there’s a chance for everything. It’s just based on how he is feeling.”
Simmons, meanwhile, sat the first end of a back-to-back against Denver last week, with his status for the big workload of this week unknown.
Backup centre Day’Ron Sharpe is still out for several weeks with his own hamstring injury. But Trendon Watford, out since the second day of camp, is close to a return.
Watford had initially been cleared to make his season debut Saturday, listed as available before being ruled out after his left hamstring flared up in warm-ups.
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“He’s worked really hard to get himself back healthy and it’s just good to have him around. Just such a good energy, great personality,” Fernandez said. “I have to help him get back into rhythm. He’ll get there.”
Watford carved out a role late last season as a secondary playmaker and point-forward. It’s unclear what his role will be now, especially with Simmons healthy.
“It’s a good question. I think he’ll let me know. He’ll show me. That’s what players do,” Fernandez said. “Those guys are so good, and they just teach you, show you.
“I’m sure he could be a prominent ball handler, he can shoot well. I want him to be efficient at doing almost everything, be very versatile. So that means that he’s gonna have more chances to play more minutes, because the more things you do, then the more chances you have to play. Excited to see it.”
-Parts of this story were originally published in the New York Post and reproduced with permission.
ALL RESULTS
PISTONS 106 NETS 92
HAWKS 126 PELICANS 111
MAGIC 85 MAVERICKS 108