- This topic is empty.
-
Soobum Im/Getty Images Jordi Fernández was a big fan of the Brooklyn Nets’ performance against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday evening, a hard-fought game that resulted in a 126-122 Kings victory.
The head coach described it as “very positive,” and it was easy to see why. Ben Saraf turned in a career-best performance as did Malachi Smith, Ziaire Williams handled more on-ball opportunities well, and the team only turned it over seven times. Aside from Danny Wolf’s gnarly ankle sprain, the only uneasy moment was how close the Nets actually came to winning: about two inches of wingspan that Drake Powell doesn’t have. Alas, Brooklyn lost, taking a huge step to securing (at least) the 3rd-best NBA Draft Lottery odds.
The second half of their back-to-back went much differently. Sunday’s game was always going to be a nail-biter. Meanwhile, Monday night’s game tipped off at 10:10 p.m. ET, and the game did not end until after 12:30 thanks to a whistle parade Nic Claxton returned from a one-game rest absence, but Drake Powell and Terance Mann joined Wolf and Noah Clowney on the injury report, in addition to the MPJ/Sharpe/Dëmin trio nursing long-term injuries back on the East Coast.
Infomercial breaks between quarters would have been appropriate.
Dealing with a busted bracket?
The Sweet 16 is almost here – who’s still alive? We’re reviewing the week that was in the first week of the NCAA tournament and turning our focus to remaining teams. How bad (or good!) is your bracket? Join us in the SB Nation March Madness Feed and let’s talk about who’s most likely to make a run to glory.
Pregame, Fernández emphasized the importance of handling Portland’s ball pressure on offense and protecting the paint on defense. I thought the team played fairly hard given the rough scheduling circumstances — Fernández disagreed — but they did not execute in either of these areas. The Nets committed 22 turnovers in this one, though the Blazers committed 24 themselves. In any case, the footage is not headed to Springfield.
Similarly, Brooklyn couldn’t protect their paint, though with the absence of every non-Clax big on the roster, they trotted out some small lineups. There were even some shining moments early on, like Nolan Traore blocking Donovan Clingan in help…
But the Blazers took 40 free-throws, led by Deni Avdija taking a dozen. The hosts also shot 25-of-37 in the paint, whereas Brooklyn once again could not score against the 7’2” Clingan in drop coverage. Nic Claxton shot just 4-of-10 for his ten points, while Traore took the bagel — 0-of-9 on the evening with a couple tough shots over Cling Kong. The Nets shot just 20-of-44 in the paint, though Chaney Johnson did provide one major highlight…
Johnson was one of seven Nets who reached double-digits on the evening, though his five turnovers put a damper on the box score. His lack of size at the center position finally came to a head, outside of that one transition dunk.
It wasn’t too surprising that Brooklyn struggled to score on the interior; what really turned the game into a blowout was the 3-point shooting disparity. Tyson Etienne got hot in the fourth quarter, actually leading the team in scoring with 18, while Josh Minott shot 2-of-4 from deep and Williams’ only make was a 4-point play, but as a team, the Nets shot just 8-of-29 from three.
On the other side, Camara made nine by himself. Yes, Toumani Camara scored a career-high 35 points, shot 9-of-11 from deep, and by garbage time, he was really feeling himself, taking heat-checks from the logo and tween-tween pull-ups…
“I was feeling like Damian Lillard,” said the man of the hour. He was looking like it too. His opponent was not. The Nets did not shoot well from two or three; they turned it over a ton.
When Fernández got asked where the game went “off track,” he did not mince words: “At every level. We got outplayed. We lost every single quarter. So, no excuse of any kind. The second-chance, the free-throws, the points off turnovers ended up being even, but we lost the possession game. We lost the physicality part of it, the effort, everything.”
And there you have it. Jalen Wilson reached double-figures in his first start of the season, as did Claxton, and Ziaire Williams scored another 16 points on just seven FGAs, but this was not a memorable evening. After two equally exciting but very different games against the New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings, we were due for this. These end-of-season exercises in futility weren’t all going to be easy on the eyes.
Final Score: Portland Trail Blazers 134, Brooklyn Nets 99
Tankathon Update
The Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic thanks to a game-saving block by Pascal Siakam on Monday night. They have 16 wins, as do the Washington Wizards. The Brooklyn Nets have 17 wins. The Nets play each of those teams one more time this season.
Which means that Brooklyn controls its own tanking destiny. Well, at least before a coin flip. (Teams that finish with the same end-of-season record are subject to a coin flip to determine how many precious ping pong balls they get.)
Here’s an updated look at the standings, courtesy of Tankathon…
Next Up
The Brooklyn Nets continue their West Coast road trip by visiting the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET.
- Boxscore: Portland Trail Blazers 134, Brooklyn Nets 99 – NBA
- Game Highlights: Portland Trail Blazers 134, Brooklyn Nets 99 (Video) – NBA
- Jordi Fernandez PostGame Interview (Video) – YES Network
- Tyson Etienne PostGame Interview (Video) – Meghan Triplett – YES Network
- Nets Upcoming schedule (Video) – Nancy Newman – YES Network
- Camara posts career highs of 9 3-pointers, 35 points as Trail Blazers beat Nets 134-99 – AP
- How the Nets’ Josh Minott has made his case to be part of the future — on and off the floor ($) – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Nets’ hustle hasn’t dipped, even as the season slips away ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
- Tyson Etienne scores 18 points as Nets lose to Trail Blazers 134-99 – Sharif Phillips-Keaton – USA TODAY
- Nets Season Can’t End Soon Enough ($) – Steve Lichtenstein – Steve’s Newsletter
- Nets rookie continues late-season improvement with career-best performance – Erik Slater – Clutch Points
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
