This game represents the rebirth of the LeVert/Allen connection. Last season, if Caris LeVert had a game with a lot of assists, it seemed like it was always nonstop lobs to Jarrett Allen for monster whammers. This season, I haven’t noticed their connection as much, probably because LeVert was injured for a good chunk of time, and also because D’Angelo Russell emerged as an All-Star who deserved to take over more ball-handling duties. But now the connection is reforged and it is just as awesome as I remember, if not even more awesome.
Setting aside the awesome LeVallen connection (as I’ve taken to calling it starting right now), Caris LeVert had a statement game from a scoring perspective. It didn’t result in a Nets win (which is a dayum shame because I wanted to watch Sixers fans have a collective meltdown), but it did remind a national TV audience that LeVert is a LeGit scorer who can do it all. He dunks. He hits crafty layups. He splashes triples. He crosses up fools like they’re saying the goddamn rosary. He’ll even pass if he has to.
I try not to be easily impressionable, but LeVert is really impressioning on me this series. He’s had three out of four games over twenty points, and he’s looked really frickin’ good in all of them. I used to be super high on Spencer Dinwiddie, but my excitement for him gets knocked down a couple levels whenever LeVert shows out like this. In my ideal world, LeVert adopts the sick semi-fro/goatee combo that Dinwiddie has, but otherwise keeps all the LeVert stuff. That would be awesome enough that I could deal with the Nets losing this series in six games.