LeVert leading offense down tubes
SALT LAKE CITY — The Nets have been in a collective malaise offensively, no player more so than Caris LeVert. And his funk continued Saturday against Utah.
LeVert finished with six points on 3-of-12 shooting, continuing his cold stretch since returning from a dislocated foot that cost him 42 straight games.
“I want defense and rebounding,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “[LeVert is] going to catch his rhythm at some point offensively. It’s just a matter of time. [Now] would be a good night to start.”
LeVert averaged 18.4 points on 47.5 percent shooting before the foot injury, but came into Utah av- eraging just 9.9 points on 36.3 percent shooting since his return.
“I think it’s a feel. He gets in the paint, he gets deep and now, what do I do? There’s kind of an indecision on how to attack that big,” Atkinson said. “You go in there, and now what do you do? He’s trying to figure that out right now. I’d love to see him go off one night and explode and just finish.
“I think he’s picking it up and just doubting himself a little. We’re working on it. He’s looking at a lot of film and working on it in practice. I think this is to be expected. This is
DeMarre Carroll and Treveon Graham returned to the court, but point guard Shabazz Napier, who was listed as probable, was a late scratch with his hamstring still tight.
“[Crabbe] will be out this weekend. Shabazz will be out, too. Apologize for that, we just found out. He wasn’t ready to go,” said Atkinson, who wouldn’t call it a setback. “It was just sore and he tested it and just not ready. Not ready to go.”
Nets and Jazz players took warmups wearing T-shirts featuring black and white hands clasped together, the quote, “You don’t right racism with racism. You fight racism with solidarity,” from Black Panther leader Fred Hampton on the front, and the lone word “SOLIDARITY” on the back.
Two Utah fans were banned this week from Vivint Smart Home Arena for offensive racist behavior toward Thunder star Russell Westbrook on separate occasions.
Tuesday, the Jazz banned Shane Keisel for life for making degrading comments to Westbrook at Monday’s game. Then Friday, another fan got banned for calling Westbrook “boy” before Game 4 of last season’s playoff series.