Kenny Atkinson praised the Brooklyn Nets for how much trouble they gave his team last year before tipoff this evening. With Cleveland eyeing a Larry O’Brien and the Nets eyeing ping pong balls, they gave Cleveland more
than any game preview expected, especially in November, when Brooklyn nearly ended their perfect start to the season.
“We know how hard they play; when we’re playing at that intensity for that long, like they do, that causes any team problems,” he said. “So, I know we’ll be in for a fight tonight.”
Neither team’s aspirations for the season changed tonight, but Atkinson’s impression of his old team might’ve been jeopardized, at least at first. Brooklyn’s start to the game was twice as good as their last one — still not great by any means, but better. Cleveland caught them sleeping a handful of times fast breaks and with weak side baseline cuts. They also booted their way into nine first quarter turnovers…
That said, they also had a few fizzles of energy. Newcomers Michael Porter Jr. and Terance Mann snatched some early points from an otherwise air-tight Cleveland defense via their two man game. Veterans Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas did the same…
It didn’t acclimate to much on the scoreboard, except perhaps a 10-point deficient rather than a 20-point one. The Cavs went up 23-12 less than four minutes into the game, and the score remained lopsided with Brooklyn shuffling lineups but getting no closer to logical play.
A tough Cam Thomas fadeaway tugged Cleveland’s lead back to a dozen, which had grown as large as 17 by that point, less than a minute before the break. But however, and not soon after, he committed an eight second violation that abruptly ended what should have been Brooklyn’s last possession before halftime. That emblematic play made the score 63-51 at the half.
Switching ends brought no effect to the score, but the third period did give us our first Cam Thomas NBA Jam moment of the campaign. We’ve seen him put up the blinders before, though tonight might’ve been the best use case to do it in his career. Brooklyn’s offense had been shooting just 43% from the floor by the half, so CT put in a quick 13 points in the third quarter, going 5-10 from the field and 2-5 from deep. Though he often initiated possessions determined to shoot, he even dropped in four assists.
Electrifying as those buckets were, Brooklyn’s run at the lead didn’t come until about 10 minutes later. The Nets opened the fourth quarter shooting 11-13 from the field and 6-8 from deep, making it a six point game with about five to go. It felt like the team’s first run in eight quarters of basketball. It wasn’t without miscues, but I don’t think anyone outside of perhaps Jordi Fernández cared.
As the score tightened, Brooklyn’s defense did the same. Cleveland put up .294/.100 splits down the stretch of the fourth. Even Mr. Whammy, who I can now call a Hall of Famer, chipped in, forcing four Cavalier misses at the line. After 45 point quarter, they put up just 13 in the fourth with only a handful of minutes to spare.
Then, with 3:48 to go, Egor Dëmin walked into a deep triple that made it a one point game. Up until that point, it was a game where you had to keep reminding yourself it’s the home opener, not some snoozer on a Tuesday night in February. Even when Dëmin, the team’s first lottery pick in more than two decades, checked in, the crowd cheered him like you would for a speaker at a work event you were forced to go to.
But in the fourth, they applauded him like you would a rising star having his first big moment in front of his fans. Against the odds, “Brooooklyyyyyyn” and “Let’s-Go-Nets” chants were loud.
After that, the Nets only scored two points. Thomas, Dëmin, and Mann each missed shots one after the other during the following possessions, and the Cavaliers did what they were supposed to, winning the foul game at the line to keep their distance as the clock wound down.
Said Jordi Fernández of the season-opening loss in Charlotte: “There was some positives, but overall, the feeling was that we didn’t fight enough.”
On Friday, there were many tactical negatives. Defensive rotations were off, the transition defense was non-existent until the fourth quarter, and of course, the turnovers themselves. But at the very least, Brooklyn fought: “You’re at home, you get to fight for a one-possession game — the energy in the building, the fans while [we are] making the run, the momentum, credit to our guys. They trusted the pass, ended up with 30 assists. We shot 44 threes and made 19 … Now we got to clean up a little bit more. You know, our pick-and-roll defense, our low man, those little things. But you know, really proud of those guys.”
Fernández, after another frustrating start to the night, walked off the podium emanating proud. Barclays Center was not quite deflated by the loss, still buzzing despite (or maybe because of) poor defense and an exciting finish that didn’t go Brooklyn’s way. In some ways, it was a perfect evening.
Final Score: Cleveland Cavaliers 131, Brooklyn Nets 124
Next Up
Game No. 3 will take the Nets out west for the first time this season. They’ll visit demigod Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Brooklyn split their series with Spurs last year, though San Antonio won the real battle, jumping the Nets and several others in the NBA Draft lottery to acquire Dylan Harper.
The game starts at 2:00 p.m. EST, so you’ll only have to watch the Jets for about an hour.
