SALT LAKE CITY — Tosan Evbuomwan may be light on NBA experience, but he’s sure making the most of the playing time he’s getting now.
The Nets’ new two-way player poured in a career-high 22 points and was even on the floor in the waning moments of their 112-111 overtime loss in Utah on Sunday.
“Amazing … always under control,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “Looks like a guy that has been there before and he’s 23. Very happy to see him, keep working with him, keep developing him. He’s doing his job.”
“Both plays on defense and offense didn’t work the way we wanted to,” Fernandez said.
“We couldn’t get a sH๏τ off. I fumbled it. I didn’t get a sH๏τ off,” said Evbuomwan, who has drawn praise from his coaches and teammates for his poise.
Ben Simmons logged 31:38 but exceeded his minutes limit and left midway through the overtime.
“I played more than I probably should have in that OT. But I wanted to win, so that’s just the compeтιтiveness in me. So I stayed out there as long as I could. … So I tried to play that role and did what I could,” Simmons said.
“We have to be responsible,” Fernandez said. “A lot of times, true compeтιтors always will tell you, ‘I want to stay in.’ We talked about some other players, you got to save them from themselves.
“Ben, I’m sure that if I asked him, he wanted to be in, but at the same time, we know where we started this summer. We know where we are at right now. We like the progression, and we’re going to keep doing that. We’re going to do what’s best for him, his body, first and then for the team.”
