On a night when the Nets were down in size, Dorian Finney-Smith was ready to carry the team for 40 minutes or more if Nic Claxton was ruled out.
Although Claxton did make his first start against the Grizzlies on Monday after nursing a hamstring injury from the preseason, the Nets were without Noah Clowney, Ben Simmons and Day’Ron Sharpe.
It was a night the Nets needed more from their ninth-year forward and he delivered with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, and a steal to help the Nets earn their fourth win of the season — 106-104 over the Grizzlies at Barclays Center.
“He’s been a dawg, he’s reliable, he’s healthy,” Claxton said of Finney-Smith after the win. “He guards 1 through 5 for us night in and night out. And we just need guys like that, especially now with us having injuries. He said it tonight, he was ready to play 40-plus if I wasn’t gonna play. So it’s definitely — you’ve got to tip your hat off.”
Eight of Finney-Smith’s points came in the fourth quarter, including a crucial three-point dagger that broke a tie at 101 with barely under a minute to play and earned the Nets the lead for the remainder of the game.
He shot five of eight from deep and is the second player in team history to record five 3-pointers and five offensive boards in a single game. The last to accomplish the feat was Kyrie Irving on Dec. 9, 2022.
The previous three games only saw Finney-Smith score as high as nine points.
“Just my team, man. They still trust in me even though I’ve been struggling the last couple games, they’ve still been telling me to shoot the ball every time I’m open,” Finney-Smith said on Monday. “It feels good when the guys around you have your back even when you’re not making shots.”
The third-year Net realized he had to use his legs a little bit more on Monday, as they have been tired from guarding just about everyone from point guards like Jamal Murray to forwards such as Jaren Jackson Jr.
“Doe [Finney-Smith] kept shooting and they all went in. Can you always control it? No, but you control just to take the good ones,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “He did and I was very happy for him because I’ve put him in tough spots. He’s been guarding centers, he’s been guarding point guards. … I’m doing all this to him and he’s fighting. The fact that I can see him fight defensively, but also see the shot go in, nobody deserves it more than him.”
The Nets have a lighter load of injury concerns this week.
Despite Clowney missing Monday’s game with a sore right hip after receiving an MRI exam in the morning ahead of the Grizzlies game, he told The Post after the win that he’s hopeful of playing the Celtics on Friday.
“It’s sore. But I should be fine. Yeah,” Clowney said. The rare span of three days between games should prove helpful. “It’s great. Time to recover, get it right so I can play the next one.”
Ben Simmons rested on Monday at the end of the back-to-back to manage his lower back load.
The Celtics play the Warriors on Wednesday and will be without Jaylen Brown (left hip flexor) and Kristaps Porzingis (tibialis tendon surgery rehab). Brown has missed the past two games for the Celtics.
