Jacque Vaughn has pleaded with his Nets to force more turnovers.
Some long-waited ball-hawking — along with fourth-quarter defense and a healthy dose of Spencer Dinwiddie — led shorthanded Brooklyn to a 124-104 In-Season Tournament rout of Orlando before 17,361 at Barclays Center on Tuesday night.
“Great effort by Spencer,” Vaughn said. “His ability to really command the basketball, you saw.”
With Ben Simmons and Cam Thomas sidelined, Dinwiddie had a season-high 29 points and nine assists to lead a balanced attack, the Nets shooting 54.1 percent overall and 19 of 39 from deep.
And it was defense that sparked that offense.
The Nets came into Tuesday last in the league in opponent turnovers, but harassed the Magic into 16 that they converted into 27 points.
Spencer Dinwiddie, who scored a game-high 29 points, drive past Goga Bitadze during the Nets’ 124-104 win over the Magic. Robert Sabo for NY Post“Love seeing those fast-break points. The ability to turn people over, it’s that the quality of the shot you usually get because you have an advantage in transition,” Vaughn said. “The more opportunities we can create and dictate possessions and be able to turn guys over, that’s only going to be to our advantage.”
Brooklyn had a staggering 31-7 edge in fast-break points, a season-high and an auspicious sign with Simmons out.
Cam Johnson, in his best night since returning from injury, had 20 points.
The laugher moved the Nets to 6-5 overall, and 2-1 in East Group C.
Mikal Bridges, who scored 21 points, goes up for a layup during the Nets’ victory. Robert Sabo for NY PostThe Nets outscored Orlando 36-18 in the fourth quarter.
They held the Magic to 28.6 percent shooting — 2 of 13 from deep — in the quarter and got out on the break.
Brooklyn shot a scalding 76.5 percent in the final period, Dinwiddie taking over with a dozen points on 4 of 4 shooting and a plus-18.
“It was just matching their intensity, because we came out and played good defense to start and then they took it up a notch, erased the lead and even took a good command of the game,” Dinwiddie said. “That was one of the things JV preached, was matching and exceeding their intensity level. Because we had it in us. We have phenomenal defenders up and down the roster.
Lonnie Walker IV, who scored 11 points off the bench, slams home a dunk during the Nets’ win. Robert Sabo for NY Post“I’d say — statistically speaking — given my effectiveness throughout my career in both isolation [and] pick-and-roll, it makes me one of the better offensive engines, especially in the half-court to have put on this jersey. … You have to play off whatever the flow is and the guys that are out there, and accept whatever’s going on while it’s going on in realtime. So if it’s passing, it’s passing. And if it’s shooting, it’s shooting.”
Tuesday, Dinwiddie did both.
