TORONTO _ Reinforcements are arriving from the injury list just in time for the Nets' playoff push. Coach Kenny Atkinson increased the playing time for Caris LeVert and Allen Crabbe as they came off the bench against the Raptors on Monday night at Scotia Bank Arena, and Spencer Dinwiddie spoke before the game about his impending return from the operation he underwent to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb two weeks earlier.
But as much as the infusion of talent might help the Nets, it also served to underline the complicated process of working top players back into the rotation. The new player who made the biggest impact was Marc Gasol who had 11 fourth-quarter points in his first Raptors home game since being traded from Memphis before star Kawhi Leonard banged in the winning jumper with 4.2 seconds left in a 127-125 victory over the Nets.
The loss was the fifth in the past six games for the Nets (29-29), who dropped to .500. They got terrific performances from D'Angelo Russell (28 points, 14 assists, six rebounds) before he missed a potential winning 3-pointer at the buzzer and Joe Harris, who totaled 24 points on 7-for-8 3-point shooting. Crabbe performed well in his third game back with 22 points, including a pair of 3s that tied the score at 120, but in his second game back, LeVert scored only six points on 3-of-11 shooting.
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