The Brooklyn Nets’ rookies are receiving extended minutes during the final stretch of the season following the team’s elimination from postseason contention. Ben Saraf has seen the most substantial increase in workload during recent games.
Saraf has struggled for most of the season. However, he’s beginning to flash the skills that led the Nets to select him with the No. 26 pick in June’s draft. The 6-foot-6 point guard continued an encouraging stretch during Sunday’s 126-122 loss to the Sacramento Kings, scoring a season-high 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting with five assists and two turnovers.
“I think that I did pretty good. I got to the rim and played off two [feet] like the coaches wanted,” Saraf said. “I felt like I was able to finish at the rim. I mean, they didn’t have a crazy shot-blocker, so I was able to get the go to go all the way [to the basket].”
Saraf was the only Net to crack 20 points during the loss. The 19-year-old has scored in double figures in five of his last six games.
Ben Saraf continues encouraging stretch with career-best performance
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Saraf has averaged 12.3 points on 47.5 percent shooting with 4.5 assists and 3.0 turnovers per game during that span. Jordi Fernandez praised the rookie’s finishing and ability to limit turnovers as Brooklyn’s lead ball-handler in Sacramento.
“It was great,” Fernandez said of Saraf’s performance. Probably one of his best games at finishing at the rim. You see it right there, I like how aggressive he was. Five assists to two turnovers. Our 30 assists to only seven turnovers [as a team] is very impressive. So that’s definitely a step forward for us.”
While Saraf was effective as a driver and facilitator on Sunday, he missed all five of his three-point attempts. The Israeli floor general is shooting 20 percent on just 3.6 three-point attempts per 36 minutes this season.
Sunday’s loss further separated Brooklyn from Sacramento for the third spot in the draft lottery standings. The Nets now have two fewer wins than the Kings with 11 games remaining. They have one more win than the Washington Wizards in second and two more than the Indiana Pacers in first.
Brooklyn has matchups with Sacramento, Washington and Indiana on its remaining schedule.