After a few seasons and almost losing his spot in the NBA, Landry Shamet was an important part Nixrotation from last season.
This year, he became the team’s main starter when one of the wings in the starting lineup is injured or rested, Stefan Bondi writes for the New York Post. He clearly earned the head coach’s trust Mike Brown, who often turns to Shamet when Mikal Bridges struggling to find their offensive rhythm like they did earlier this season.
“With the way our team is built, we don’t need anyone doing anything out of the ordinary. Just go, like Landry said, be yourself, play hard” said Brown.It’s not necessarily how you start games. This is how you end up. Landry is phenomenal to have as a starter because he is a two-way player. He needs to be guarded and he plays with pace and a lot of other things that we believe in.”
Brown turned to Shamet early in the second half of the Knicks’ loss to the Cavaliers on Wednesday, and Bridges again struggled to get going offensively. After the game, the championship coach discussed the minutes management of these two players, plus Miles McBride and Josh Hartthe latter of whom has also struggled offensively this season.
“Part of that is because we have two guys that play really well in Landry and Deuce, so it’s going to be tough at times to find minutes for Mikal and maybe even Josh at times because those two guys are playing at a pretty high level, and not just offensively, but defensively as well” Brown said, according to SNY Knicks (Link to video on Twitter). “Landry and Deuce are a big part of what we’ve done defensively, so when they’re playing at a high level, I’ve got to keep trying to find ways to get those guys on the floor.”
We have more from across the Atlantic Division:
- Scotty Barnes missed his third straight game with a left adductor injury Predators lost to the Celtics on Wednesday. Before the game, he said he was “progressing well,” per Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy (Link to Twitter). He is considered day-to-day and his status for Thursday’s game against the Sixers has yet to be determined.
- The Networks were without the young guard Nolan Traore and Mikel Brown Jr for Wednesday’s win over the Pelicans as both are dealing with injuries. Another young player who was not on the team is a second-year guard Ben Sarafwho worked for the G League Nets affiliate, the Long Island Nets. Before the game, the head coach Jordi Fernandez explained that Saraf had not been called up because of the trip and how late in the day the team learned that Traore would be unavailable, Brian Lewis notes for the New York Post (Link to Twitter). Fernandes said Saraf would be considered if Traore and Brown miss more games.
- While Networks were without Traore and Brown, who have played well of late, they got Yehor Demin returned after a six-game absence due to a right leg bone impactand the team responded with a stunning victory over the Pelicans, who were coming off their worst losing streak in franchise history. Demin scored 22 points on just eight shots and the Nets led by 41 before the game was over, clearly frustrating the Pelicans in the process, reports Fiifi Frimpong of the New York Daily News. It was just Brooklyn’s third win of the season.
