Dorian Finney-Smith had missed four straight games because of a nagging left ankle sprain. The veteran forward had not played in six of the Nets‘ past seven contests overall because of the injury, and he felt every bit of it.
“It’s a tough battle,” Finney-Smith said. “You know, they’re telling me I’m older now. It takes — the body takes a little bit more time to recover. You can’t just tie your shoe tighter and go back out there and think everything is going to be good like it used to be.”
The 31-year-old was not listed on Brooklyn’s Saturday afternoon injury report. Barring an unforeseen setback, he will return to the starting lineup on Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks at Barclays Center.
“You know, it’s a long season,” Finney-Smith said. “Nobody’s really 100%, so I’m pretty sure everybody got some nags and bumps and bruises, but I feel better and I’m ready to play.”
It will be Finney-Smith’s first appearance since Nov. 27. Brooklyn is 4-4 without him in the lineup this season.
“You know what Doe brings,” Trendon Watford said. “Doe brings toughness, just his veteran leadership that he brings to any team. I think that’s what he’s made his name off of, just him being a leader and him being that tough guy, him just being a knock-down shooter and knock-down defender. We know what Doe brings every night, and we definitely can use it.”
Despite missing extended time, Finney-Smith remains on pace to have his best season since joining the Nets. He has averaged 10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his first 15 appearances while shooting 46.7% from the field and 42.2% from 3-point range. He has a plus-18.7 net rating in 435 minutes this season, the fourth-highest in the NBA entering Saturday’s games.
“Toughness, personality, experience, trust, you can go on and on and on,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “He means a lot for the group. For us as coaches, we’re very comfortable having him on the court and having him active. Whether he’s on the court, on the bench, his presence is very important, and his teammates feel the same way. Whenever he is back, active and playing, we’ll be very happy to have him.”
Finney-Smith’s 5.5 3-point attempts per game are also a career high. He explained after Saturday’s practice in Brooklyn how he was able to develop a quicker trigger through the years — and Fernandez’s part in improving his confidence this season.
“I’d say, just, I put the work in this summer, obviously, but the coaching staff and this team, everybody just be on me when I turn down shots and I’m not aggressive,” Finney-Smith said. “When your team believes in you that much, it feels good. You know, Coach, he’s telling my family, ‘Man, if he doesn’t shoot the ball,’ so now you got wifey and my mom and them telling me, ‘Coach telling me you need to shoot,’ so he’s even creeping into my house.
“It’s mental. You know, I can’t have [Cam Thomas’] mindset. CT, I wish I had his mindset, that’s a great mindset to have, but it isn’t me, you know? But I’m working on it, work in progress.”
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