NEW YORK _ The injury hits just keep coming for the Nets. Spencer Dinwiddie sat out the Nets' win over the Knicks Friday night at Barclays Center with what the team admitted are torn ligaments in his right thumb, and according to an ESPN report on Saturday, Dinwiddie will opt to undergo surgery on Monday and likely will be out three to six weeks.
There was no official word from the Nets on Dinwiddie's status, and coach Kenny Atkinson previously declined to speculate on a timeline for Dinwiddie's recovery from surgery. Atkinson admitted Dinwiddie had been playing with the injury for at least two months while compiling a 17.2 scoring average and 5.0 assists per game to become a strong candidate for the Sixth Man award.
If Dinwiddie is going to be out for an extended period of time along with previously injured Caris LeVert, Allen Crabbe and Jared Dudley, then, it falls to backup point guard Shabazz Napier to replace him and try to prevent the accumulation of injuries from turning thumbs down on a remarkable Nets playoff push that has seen them win six straight games and climb to sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 27-23 record.
Napier did his best Dinwiddie imitation against the Knicks by getting to the basket repeatedly to score 18 points, including an 11-of-12 performance from the free throw line. "I thought we needed that spark, especially with the way they were blitzing the pick-and-roll and then they were switching everything else," Atkinson said after the game.
"Teams switch, and you need to get downhill. You need to break a guy down. That's what Spencer does. That's why teams don't switch on him very much because he can just blow by the big guy, and I thought Shabazz created that for us. He took the mismatch on and obviously got downhill and got to the free throw line."
Napier has averaged 9.0 points and 2.0 assists and shot 36.2 percent from 3-point range in just 16.7 minutes per game in his 38 appearances. Even after periods when he wasn't in the rotation, he has produced whenever called upon.
Asked about replacing such a valuable player as Dinwiddie, Napier said, "It's always tough when you lose some of your guys, but everybody understands someone can come contribute. It may not be one person. It might be three people that can contribute what Spencer has been doing. But we'll hopefully get him back soon."
In addition to Napier, the Nets got a surprising 19-point game from undrafted rookie Theo Pinson, who is on a two-way contract. "He did a lot _ rebound the ball, played great defense," Napier said of Pinson. "I thought he definitely was a big X-factor for us."
Another benefit of using Napier off the bench is his chemistry with backup center Ed Davis, who played with him the previous two seasons in Portland. Davis had 17 points and 16 rebounds and excels in the pick-and-roll with Napier.
"I've been playing with Ed for three years now," Napier said. "On and off the court, he's been a tremendous help to myself. Being together for three years, you build something."
