After MarShon Brooks went scoreless for the first time as a pro Sunday evening in Cleveland, the Nets’ rookie guard declared he was ready to get back out on the court as soon as possible.
He played like it last night, finishing with 21 points and seven rebounds in the Nets’ 108-94 loss to the Pacers at the Prudential Center in Newark.
“I just went out there and played with energy,” Brooks said. “I got a couple good looks, Deron [Williams] found me for a couple 3’s and, once that happened, I started playing a little more aggressive.”
Before the game, coach Avery Johnson said he expected to get Brooks on the court early in last night’s game. Johnson wasted little time, subbing in Brooks for Sundiata Gaines a little over three minutes in after the Nets, once again, started out slowly.
Brooks didn’t waste any time getting going, scoring seven points during the rest of the first quarter and then grabbing three rebounds in the second. That was enough for Johnson to decide to send Brooks out with the starters to begin the second half.
“Coming into the game, we were debating whether we were going to start him,” Johnson said. “I have another target date to start him, but I wanted to move it up.
“[Assistant coach] P.J. [Carlesimo] talked me out of it, so I said, ‘OK, we’ll start him in the third quarter.’ And he played pretty good.”
“He just said, ‘Rook, go in the game,’ ” Brooks said, smiling. “That’s all I heard. I was excited about it.”
Being out there with the first unit gave Brooks a chance to spend some extended minutes paired in the backcourt with Deron Williams – a combination Johnson admitted is going to eventually be the Nets’ starting backcourt. The two ran some pick-and-rolls, and looked comfortable playing together.
“He impressed,” Williams said. “He bounced back well, and he has a lot of confidence in his ability. It doesn’t matter if he plays five minutes or 30, he is going to be ready to go in, which is really good for a rookie.”