The Brooklyn Nets’ sixth consecutive loss to begin their 2025-26 campaign was embarrassing. Fans who had come to see Brooklyn’s five first-round draft picks take on an I95 rival in the Philadelphia 76ers
saw those rookies combine for 19 total minutes and shuffled out of Barclays Center early in the fourth quarter, with their team down by nearly 30 points (again). Many of the paying customers who saw it through were Philly fans sitting behind the visitors’ bench, either chanting ‘E-A-G-L-E-S’ or imploring Head Coach Nick Nurse to insert player-coach Kyle Lowry into the game. Joel Embiid, in turn, implored them to get louder.
It was in this context that the D-team Sixers made sure to get two different rookies their first career buckets. It was in this context that a seething Jordi Fernández forced a starter-heavy lineup including Cam Thomas, Michael Porter Jr., and Terance Mann to apply a quarter-hearted full-court press while suffering through garbage time.
“I’m failing at trying to get my guys to play hard,” said a haunted Fernández postgame. “And I’m trying to ask questions. Ask them questions, ‘how can I do it?’ To get them to play really hard, and then you live with the result. I’m not living with this result because the effort is not there and the defense is not there.”
Yes, the Brooklyn Nets are tanking this season — and for good reason — but the product after six games felt far more miserable than your average tank-fest. The locker room, which was jovial enough after their moral victory (scoreboard loss) of a home opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, was funereal on Sunday. Not even Terance Mann, oldest player on the team, could pinpoint the problem.
“When you’re 0-6, it’s tough to figure out. I mean, it’s hard to pinpoint one thing, you know? It’s a little bit of everything. It’s just a tough job to tackle. So yeah, it’s gonna be tough.”
That was the backdrop for Brooklyn’s Monday night contest against the Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves, the second half of a back-to-back. As on Sunday, #26 overall pick Ben Saraf did not start (or even appear until garbage time), with Tyrese Martin taking his place. Fellow rookie Drake Powell did not play after re-injuring his right ankle, and Michael Porter Jr. was a late scratch with personal reasons. Noah Clowney got the start in his place.
Despite (or due to) that change, Brooklyn played a respectable first half against the Wolves, tied after a quarter and down by four at the break. Clowney made the most of his opportunity early, forcing three Timberwolves turnovers and scoring five of his 15 points before the first media timeout.
Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton led the offense, however, with Clax embracing his growing role as an initiator at the top of the key. He drove the ball against Rudy Gobert and hit open cutters, winding up with 19/8/7 overall, though he and CT still mixed in some traditional dribble-handoff stuff as well…
Thomas scored 19 of his game-high-tying 25 in the first half on his characteristic array of high-arcing jumpers, which prevented Minnesota from ever truly pulling away. Still, behind a well-balanced scoring attack, the Wolves led 63-59 at half because even a decently-intentioned Brooklyn squad cannot play much defense. On this play, switchy Nic Claxton has Naz Reid well-contained until Jalen Wilson overhelps to give Jaden McDaniels a rhythm three…
Not much changed in the second half, though Cam Thomas did what he does best: starting hot and finishing 10-of-24 from the floor. The Nets did hang around to keep it more competitively interesting — but less morbidly entertaining — than Sunday’s loss. Donte DiVincenzo got free for six 3-point makes, Julius Randle laughed at Brooklyn’s thin wings on the block; on the other end, Head Coach Chris Finch went to a zone that stifled Brooklyn’s offense to start the fourth quarter, deciding the game.
At the very least, Fernández let three rookies — including Danny Wolf, who did not score in his NBA debut — and E.J. Liddell play garbage time. The one rookie who got real rotation minutes on Monday was Egor Dëmin, who struggled mightily on defense to begin the night before modestly turning it around in the second half. He only posted a 2/2/4 line on 1-of-4 shooting, but hey, he racked up a handful of deflections and his one field goal came inside the arc! Progress…
Postgame, Fernández was pleased with the #8 overall pick: “21 minutes against a very physical team, which, you know, puts you through a lot, and that’s good for him. All his setups have to be on point, how he runs all the actions, how he plays pick-and-roll, whether it’s to spray the ball or to create a shot for himself. I think it was good … We just all need to rebound better. He’s more than capable of rebounding with his size, and I would challenge not just him, but everybody else. His minutes were very positive, and we’ll keep building from there.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Fernández kept the good vibes rolling from there.
“I thought we took really positive steps. You saw the fight and the purpose and winning two quarters, also allowing less than 30 points in two quarters. For us right now, that’s a win. And I’m really proud of these guys for keep fighting. And even when we were down, like you said, we punched back and we took the lead. And then at the end, obviously, they’re big and very good defensively, and some of our shots didn’t go in.”
To be clear, the Timberwolves put up a 95th percentile offensive rating before garbage time on Monday. They shot 17-of-21 at the rim. Jordi isn’t lying about the Nets taking a positive step, but my goodness does that clarify how low the bar is right now. I suppose they are 0-7 for a reason.
Final Score: Minnesota Timberwolves 125, Brooklyn Nets 109
Milestone Watch
- Jalen Wilson reached 1,000 career points in this one. In all sincerity, that’s an achievement a #51 overall pick can smile about.
Next Up
The Brooklyn Nets head out to the Midwest for one game before NBA Cup play begins. They’ll visit the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.
