The threadbare Nets were without eight players in Monday’s 113-99 loss to Indiana, including a decimated backcourt sans point guards D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons.
The Nets (13-23) have dropped five of their past six and 10 of 13. They have the seventh-worst record in the NBA, a half-game better than the Trail Blazers.
D’Angelo Russell has come full circle, traded from the Lakers to the Nets for a second time. But this time not as a hotshot prospect but a mature leader.
D’Angelo Russell is back for a Brooklyn encore. With him on the floor, the Nets will have a different speed. A different style. Maybe even different starters.