The Brooklyn Nets have gone just 1-10 at home this season, but fans are still enjoying the NBA experience at Barclays Center thanks to rookie forward Danny Wolf.
Nets Fell Short Against Jazz
In Brooklyn’s 123-110 loss to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, fans cheered as Wolf hit three 3-pointers on eight attempts (37.5%) to finish with 17 points in 28 minutes off the bench.
It came on a night when the Jazz outscored the Nets 42-20 in the final quarter after trailing by 15 points in the first half. Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George nearly outscored the Nets by themselves, combining for 18 points.
Meanwhile, Noah Clowney scored 29 points and Ziaire Williams had 23 off the bench for Nets, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.
The Nets also rested leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. for injury management in the second game of a back-to-back. Porter, who is averaging 25.3 points, scored 33 and had 10 rebounds in Wednesday’s win at Chicago.
In Brooklyn’s 116-99 loss at Milwaukee on Nov. 29, Wolf recorded a season-high 22 points on 8-for-16 (50%) shooting from the field and a career-best five 3s on nine attempts (55.6%).
“Obviously, I had a pretty good game against Milwaukee, and then coming into tonight, Mike’s healthy again so you don’t really know what it’s going to look like,” Wolf said.
“They always say just be ready when your name is called. I sat the whole third quarter, and then coach told me I was going to go in at the start of the fourth and you look at that as an opportunity.”
In all seriousness, the Minnesota Timberwolves would have been a more fitting team for the Michigan product.
Danny Wolf Continues To Play Well
Wolf, 21, has spent most of his time this season in the G League as head coach Jordi Fernandez has tried to work around injuries using different players in his rotation.
Rookies Egor Demin and Drake Powell have been in the rotation since the season started, but Wolf, Ben Saraf, and Nolan Traore have not been needed by Fernandez throughout parts of the campaign.
Wolf’s recent performances were more than enough to impress Fernandez.
“How aggressive he was,” Fernandez said when asked about Wolf’s play. “Not second-guessing the shots, letting it fly, playing with pace, being aggressive overall. Again, not just the shot, but also creating, touching the paint, and getting to the rim. So that was a really good thing. I know that first half compared to the second, production was not the same, but I still think that he played [an] overall good game. Those minutes are important because he’s gonna keep getting better.”
Through eight games as a reserve of his rookie season, Wolf is averaging 8.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 15.4 minutes per contest. He’s shooting 44.4% from the field, 44% from deep, and 92.9% while at the foul line.
