Alan Anderson earns start with Paul Pierce injured

Alan Anderson

Alan Anderson
Alan Anderson. (AP)
Alan Anderson will replace injured small forward Paul Pierce in the Brooklyn Nets starting lineup against the Denver Nuggets tonight and for the foreseeable future, Jason Kidd told reporters at shootaround today. Anderson, one of the few Nets to play all 17 games this season, has averages of 12.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per 36 minutes, shooting almost 38 percent from three-point range.

Though Anderson is technically filling in for Pierce at “small forward,” he and shooting guard Joe Johnson are mostly interchangeable on the wing. Mirza Teletovic will likely also see time at small forward, as he has in recent games.

Though Anderson can occasionally take bad shots, sliding him in to replace Pierce is the smart move with both Pierce and Andrei Kirilenko sidelined. Hard to believe that he was the 15th man, or the last signee of the Nets offseason on July 30th.

Anderson will likely also suit up at the wing Thursday against the New York Knicks, which worked out for him well last year — when Kidd, then a player for New York, saw him light up the Knicks for 35 points: