Egor Demin has a clear goal in his quest for Nets consistency

BOSTON — A year after the Nets’ much-scrutinized first-round draft class — an NBA-record five in all — Egor Dëmin has been its biggest saving grace.One of those sophomores (Nolan Traore), who made his first start on Tuesday night, had been coming off the bench, another (Danny Wolf) is out of the rotation and two more (Drake Powell and Ben Saraf) were in the G-League on Tuesday as the Nets took on the Celtics.Dëmin, 20, is carrying the huge class.But so far this season, he’s having a hard time even pulling his own weight.Back at point guard with Mikel Brown Jr.

still on a minutes limit, Dëmin has been wildly inconsistent, alternating between good and bad, with more of the latter.“It’s going to be one of the most important parts for me,” said Dëmin.“For me personally, I’m trying to figure it out.I’m a different type of player as I had been last year, so I’m just trying to figure out how to play within these players now, and everybody else is trying to play with me.

That’s what teams go through.So, I’m not panicking.

I’m excited for what’s coming next for us.”Entering Tuesday, Dëmin was averaging 9.7 points, three assists and 2.7 rebounds on 30.8 percent shooting overall and 31.6 percent from behind the arc.Every one of those stats was down from his rookie campaign.Dëmin has been inconsistent, mustering just four points in the opener on 2-for-10 shooting and missing all five looks from 3-point range.The young Russian bounced back in Cleveland, with 22 points on 5-for-10 from deep.But Dëmin backslid the next night, managing just three points on 1-for-6 shooting to finish minus-20 in just over 19 minutes.The greatest concern is Dëmin’s driving.

After a rookie season that saw him get turned at the point of attack, he’s touching the paint more now.But he’s been ineffective once he gets downhill, going just 1-for-4 at the rim and missing his only dunk attempt.

That’s the next step for Dëmin.“Yeah, effectiveness is im...