Trendon Watford tying the Nets' best plus-minus on Sunday is as much an indictment of how poorly the Nets played as it is of how well his season debut went. Ta.
The Nets forward was out of camp with a hamstring injury, but finally made his debut in a 114-104 loss to the Knicks at the Garden.
Watford had four points, three assists and three rebounds in 13 minutes.
His plus-4 is tied with Cam Johnson for the best on the team, and he looks forward to continuing to shake off the rust in Tuesday's NBA Cup game against Charlotte.
“I just couldn't wait to get out. The energy was great. The atmosphere was great,” Watford said. “So it feels good. I'm really happy to be back there.”
Watford averaged 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds last season, which has increased to 12.9 points and 5.7 boards over the last 11 games.
“Yeah, I tried to be really consistent and be a little bit of a playmaker and do all kinds of things, the way I ended last season,” Watford said. “I'm just going to get better as time goes on and just maintain the role I had last year and play a little bit of every position and be a guy that defends every position. So I'm trying to be that for the team. ”
“I’m just like everything. [On Sunday,] I was playing a lot in points, [Dennis Schroder]. I don't know what will happen in the next game. So I don't put myself in a box and I try to do whatever I can to be a Swiss Army knife for this team and play wherever I can and in whatever Jordi I can. [Fernandez] They want me to play. ”
Having a second playmaker with his size (6-foot-9, 242 pounds) could be helpful, especially if Nic Claxton and Dayron Sharpe are both injured.
That's a role normally held by Ben Simmons, who has been pushed to play center.
“Yeah, just in terms of playmaking, we’re similar,” Watford said. “But we're also different. So just be yourself and try to make things work out. Jordi told me to pick my spots and be aggressive and not think too much. So that's what I'm trying to do and just continue to do this and try to get more comfortable with it.”
Cam Johnson only played in six games all last season, but he played in 14 games and scored 20 points in five games.
Noah Clowney was just 7-for-26 (.269) from deep through the first eight games, but has since gone 10-for-22 (.455).
Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain) and Giare Williams (right hip strain) are both listed as likely to play Tuesday.
Williams started the season 8-for-12 from deep, but has since gone just 6-for-36. His 3-point percentage is now down to 29.2, below his career mark of 30.0.
Bojan Bogdanovic (recovering from a left foot injury), Nic Claxton (lower back strain) and Dayron Sharpe (left hamstring strain) are all injured, while Jackie Cui, Jalen Martin and Darik White are injured. Head will remain with the G League Long Island.
Charlotte's Tre Mann is questionable with a back injury, but Daquan Jeffries, Jared Rhoden, Nick Richards, KJ Simpson, Nick Smith Jr. and Mark Williams are also out.
