DENVER — Even Markel Brown was stunned by his performance in his first NBA start Monday night.
“I didn’t realistically think about even playing that much,” Brown said with a smile after stuffing the stat sheet with 10 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and four blocked shots in 45 minutes — all setting or tying career-highs — to help the Nets cruise to a 110-82 victory over the Nuggets on Monday night.
“But I’m happy with the outcome, I’m happy we were able to get the win, and I’m happy I was able to contribute and help the team out.”
Brown impressed Lionel Hollins as far back as training camp, when he repeatedly earned the praise of the Nets coach. But after falling ill for several days after the team returned from its preseason trip to China, Brown fell down the depth chart and spent the first few months of the season almost exclusively watching from the sidelines.
But after playing 15 minutes in Friday’s win over the Lakers, Hollins chose to start Brown in part due to injuries to Jarrett Jack (hamstring) and Bojan Bogdanovic (ankle), and Brown didn’t disappoint.
A wiry, athletic 6-foot-3 guard, Brown — whom the Nets took with the 44th pick in last year’s draft out of Oklahoma State — was all over the court, getting a pair of highlight-reel blocks on jump shots, throwing down a huge alley-oop from Deron Williams and giving the Nets an adrenaline shot of athleticism they have lacked for most of the year.
“I thought he played really great tonight,” Williams said. “He did everything. I thought his defense was great, he was blocking shots, he was active … he just played with a lot of confidence, and that’s great to see.
“I know it’s been tough on him this year, not really getting much time, but it speaks a lot about him to be patient and sit over there, and he stepped up in a big way.”