When the Nets decided to give away 10,000 Kyrie Irving jerseys while playing the Knicks — the rival both the media and Las Vegas had predicted Irving would sign with — it sure had the look of trolling.
Nets brass said the decision wasn’t intended that way, that they only wanted to get the jerseys to fans as quickly as possible. But even center Jarrett Allen had to admit it sure looked like some subtle shade being thrown across the East River.
Allen said Irving’s presence and the Nets’ 113-109 win Friday only adds some flavor to this budding rivalry.
“I think it does, getting the free T-shirts the Kyrie jerseys, that really helped a lot, too. Just having everything, almost throw it in the Knicks’ face,” Allen, who had a game-high tying 11 rebounds, said with a laugh. “But I think it did add a little weight on their side, plus we got the win, too, so I think they’re going to be hungry next time.”
The Nets went with the same lineup they had in their season-opening loss Wednesday. But just because they didn’t swap out any starters didn’t mean Atkinson didn’t juggle his rotations. And the tweaks worked, with Spencer Dinwiddie (20 points, five assists) leading a much-improved bench against the Knicks.
“Yeah, I think we tweaked some minutes there. Subtle tweaks,” said Atkinson. “I thought Rodi [Rodions Kurucs] snapped out of it, I think he played well. [David] Nwaba was good again, solid. I thought DeAndre [Jordan] was really good. Really good job by the bench.”
Dinwiddie even played yeoman’s defense, guarding well enough to keep starter Caris LeVert planted on the bench during the stretch run. He logged 10:35 in the fourth quarter to LeVert’s 1:17.
“I just felt comfortable with Spencer, more from a defensive standpoint,” Atkinson said. “I thought Spencer was one of our better defenders. Just felt it when we went with our gut.”
The bench had been a horrid minus-63 in the opening loss, with Dinwiddie the only reserve to score more than four points. But Jordan had seven points and tied the game high with 11 boards Friday to help counter Mitchell Robinson, and Kurucs added nine points.