Spencer Dinwiddie isn't afraid of taking the big shot for the Nets

Spencer Dinwiddie isn’t likely to be in the Nets’ starting lineup when they face Carmelo Anthony and the Rockets in Brooklyn on Friday night.  After all, the 25-year-old combo guard has come off the bench in each of their first eight games.

Dinwiddie continues to earn minutes as a trusted and consummate closer for Nets coach Kenny Atkinson. He continued his penchant for hitting clutch late-game shots Wednesday night, sinking the tying basket in the final minute of regulation and the go-ahead three-pointer with seven seconds left in an overtime win over Detroit.

“It shows his growth. I think when he first came into our program, he was not a supremely confident player. But I think he’s just growing, his confidence is growing,” Atkinson said after practice on Thursday. “He’s a talented, talented guy. I remember last season he made some important game-winning shots . . . And when he’s got his three-pointer going like that, it just makes him very hard to guard. He’s made, I’d say, some spectacular shots.”

Dinwiddie was a starter in 58 of 80 games for the Nets last season, finishing with career bests of 12.6 points and 6.6 assists per game. While Atkinson exclusively has started D’Angelo Russell and 2016 first-round pick Caris LeVert in the backcourt throughout the team’s 3-5 start, the 6-6 Dinwiddie continues to build on the reputation he earned last season as a player willing to take and able to make important late-game shots.   He had seven field goals to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime last season, tied with CJ McCollum for third in the NBA.

“It’s always great when you have your coach’s trust,” Dinwiddie said. “I think the difference between me and some guys is I really don’t care if I miss. It doesn’t really even occur to me in the moment that I might miss. I think it’s going in.”

Dinwiddie has been especially effective in that regard against the Pistons, who took him in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Colorado and didn’t re-sign him two years later.

Wednesday marked the second time in 10 months that Dinwiddie hit a game-winner against the Pistons, prompting Andre Drummond to suggest that his former teammate has a “personal vendetta” against them.

“Like I’ve said before, the players and organization have changed in a lot of ways. I think everything that needed to happen kind of happened in Detroit,” said Dinwiddie, who was signed by the Nets out of the G League in 2016. “For me, it’s just kind of a scorched earth policy in terms of the league, but that’s just me. It’s not just Detroit.”