SALT LAKE CITY — Dorian Finney-Smith is playing solid defense.
He’s in the best shooting form of his career.
He’s drawing interest around the league.
And he’s coming off the bench, pulled from the starting lineup.
When Finney-Smith missed a Dec. 2 tilt against Orlando with right knee soreness, Cam Thomas stepped in for him.
But when the veteran forward came right back the very next game, coach Jacque Vaughn told him he’d be coming off the bench, informed him that he was going to stick with the high-scoring young Thomas.
One would think that was a tough conversation.
But one wouldn’t know Finney-Smith.
“Oh, it wasn’t difficult at all, man. If that’s what they think is going to help us be successful, then I’m with it,” Finney-Smith said before Monday’s loss to the Jazz. “As long as I’m on the [floor], I can get on the court and play, and play my minutes hard. That’s all I can focus on. If we win, everybody’s happy.”
Coming into Monday’s game, Thomas starting alongside Spencer Dinwiddie, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton had been outscored by 9.1 points per 100 possessions.
They were routed by the Jazz, 125-108.
Finney-Smith was a plus-8.7 with that aforementioned quartet, and his game might mesh better, ranking fifth in the NBA in catch-and-shoot 3-pointers (45.8 percent).
Johnson was forced out of the game with 7:24 left.
He attempted to tap the ball out to a teammate and took an elbow to the face, going facedown on the court.
He was in concussion protocol and was looked at by Nets staff before eventually getting up and walking off under his own power.
He returned in the final stages of the loss.
“He finished the game. We’ll see what he looks like. Little bloody somewhere else in the face area,” Vaughn said. “But good thing is he checked back in the game and want to get back in.”
Ben Simmons, Lonnie Walker IV, and Dennis Smith Jr. were all out.
The Nets expect to give an update on Simmons on Wednesday, while the other two still also aren’t likely to return immediately.
“They both have been there by themselves. They haven’t played any one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three with anybody,” Vaughn said.
