The Brooklyn Nets have been searching for scoring during a 3-14 stretch over their last 17 games. The team ranks 26th offensively during that span while struggling to find consistent backcourt production.
The Nets got a taste of the scoring punch they've been missing during Wednesday's 105-103 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. In his fifth game after a month-long absence due to a hamstring injury, Lonnie Walker IV scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the second quarter while playing the entire period.
Despite this, the shooting guard played just seven minutes in the second half against the Trail Blazers, failing to record a point. Brooklyn's offense stalled late, scoring 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Following the loss, head coach Jacque Vaughn attributed Walker's limited playing time to a minutes restriction. Vaughn said the first-year Net will remain on the restriction for at least the remainder of a three-game road trip.
Walker emerged as one of the NBA's top bench scorers before his injury, averaging a career-high 14.6 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting from the field and 43.3 percent from three. The former first-round pick led the league in scoring among players averaging fewer than 24 minutes per night.
Walker played six minutes in his first two games back, and nine minutes Monday vs. the Miami Heat, failing to score in each appearance. However, the minimum signing has impressed during his two games with extended playing time. He scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 25 minutes during Brooklyn's 111-102 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Paris.
Jacque Vaughn said Monday that he was able to play Walker extended minutes vs. Cleveland because it was the team's only game that week.
“Before Lonnie got hurt he was really scoring the basketball for us at all three levels and really affecting how we were playing on both ends of the floor,” the coach said. “He's able to take advantage of his matchups. You saw it when we were in Paris. That's the most minutes we have played him… We were able to extend him to 25 minutes because it was one game in five days. Now we play every other day so we gotta still be judicious with how we use Lonnie to not have hurt again for the rest of the year.”
The Nets will finish a three-game road trip this weekend with matchups against the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers before returning home to face the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
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