Milwaukee Bucks Game Preview: Feb. 15 at Brooklyn Nets
By Ti Windisch
Player To Watch: Brook Lopez
Brook Lopez has been on the trade block for seemingly his entire career with the Nets, but he’s still here! You can’t spell Brooklyn without Brook, and this season the Nets don’t have much besides the minute-older Lopez brother.
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Lopez has extended his range to the three-point line for the first time in his career. He’s hitting 33.3 percent of his threes, a massive leap over the 14.3 percent he averaged last season. Lopez has taken 252 threes this year, compared to 31 total over his first eight seasons. Welcome to the new NBA, Brook!
One side effect of all the threes Lopez has taken is a decline in his rebounding numbers. Lopez had never averaged less than six rebounds per game in a full season before. This season, he’s only pulling down 5.2 boards per game.
Lopez is averaging 20.5 points, 2.6 assists and 1.7 blocks per game to go along with his rebounding totals. He’s essentially a completely different player now–his two-point percentage has never been lower, while his three-point percentage has never been higher.
Even with a complete stylistic makeover, Lopez has maintained his role as the primary scorer on the Nets. It’s not enough to win this team many games, but it’s something.