Following their seven-game losing skid to end the regular season, the Long Island Nets looked to get back on track in the first-round of the NBA G League playoffs. But they were facing the Osceola Magic, No. 1 seed in the G League’ Eastern Conference playoffs … and their best players were all in Brooklyn. The organization tried to rectify the talent issue Wednesay by flying the team’s three two-ways and their 10-day from New York to Osceola following Brooklyn’s loss to Charlotte at Barclays Tuesday.
Despite reinforcements from Brooklyn, Long Island’s playoff run — and season — would come to an end in a nail-biter, 119-117 Wednesday.
Before the first single elimination game, the Brooklyn Nets sent their three two-way players – Chaney Johnson, EJ Liddell, and Tyson Etienne – and 10-day contract tryout player, Malachi Smith, down to the NBA G League with hopes of bringing a championship back to Long Island. While Liddell, Johnson, and Smith had outstanding game, particularly the 6’6” Liddell, there was a lot left to be desired for most everyone.
Liddell led the game in scoring, tallying 32 points, connecting on 10 of his 17 tries, including going two-for-six from beyond the arc. Liddell etched himself into the franchise record books tonight, as he notched 16 points in the first quarter, the most in a single quarter in a playoff game in Long Island history. Following his 16-point opening quarter, Liddell continued to spark.
Not only did Liddell deliver a peak performance shooting the ball, going 10-of-17 overall and 6-of-6 at the stripe, he also contributed in other ways to his team. He hauled in nine rebounds and tallied four assists. However, perhaps the most impressive aspect for Liddell came in the blocking department and his ability to read shots. He picked up three massive blocks, all momentum changers for Long Island.
Liddell has been rather inconsistent for a lot of the season for Long Island. Some games were simply magical for him, while others left a lot to be desired. Thankfully, this was one of the games where Liddell was able to put the full team on his back. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only two-way player to show up in a big way, as Johnson also played with something to prove.
After a rather slow start, Johnson turned up the heat against Osceola. He finished the game with 22 points, good enough for third on the team, connecting on 50% of his 16 shots. We even saw the big man try to expand his shot to beyond the arc, but he missed on both of his tries. Johnson also hauled in six rebounds, three of which were offensive and tied for the team lead. His six rebounds as a whole were tied for second on the team, and he tallied an assist, a steal, and a block.
The third two-way player on hand in this one, Tyson Etienne was almost a complete non-factor. Etienne connected on just four of his 15 tries, including connecting on only two of his 10 tries from beyond the arc. He also had three rebounds and a steal. When he’s on his game, Etienne is a great shooter, but that’s not always a guarantee.
The fourth assignee from Brooklyn, Malachi Smith, made his presence felt in a major way for Long Island. He connected on 10 of his 20 tries, including going three-for-seven from deep. He finished with 29 points, good enough for second in the game, and had six rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. Smith who has struggled with turnovers all season, once again led the team in turnovers with three. Liddell and Smith, who played together at Belleville West high school in suburban Chicago, had their best game together on Long Island.
The fifth and final starter, Dre Davis, started hot against Osceola but quickly fizzled out. The 24-year-old 6’6” wing connected on just three of his eight tries, but did go 2-of-5 from deep, for a total of eight points. This was the second-lowest scoring performance of all the starters in the whole game. Davis also had five rebounds, two assists, and one steal to his credit.
The Long Island squad fought until the very end. They even had a chance to win the game on the very final play, but Smith missed the three-point try just before the buzzer. While the team fought hard, three of their four replacement players — Liddell, Smith and Johnson accounted for 83 of the team’s 117 points. This is where the biggest discrepancy in play between the two teams was most visible. The Long Island bench combined for 14 points, whereas the Osceola bench, which held the same number of players, combined for 41.
Hunter Cattoor, who has been on a tear recently with back-to-back-to-back career highs, led the bench in scoring with just five points. David Muoka had four, Trevon Scott who late got word he was joining Brooklyn on a two-way had three, and Javon Freeman-Liberty who has struggled with consistency, had a single bucket all game. As a whole, the bench connected on just four of their 15 tries. Night and day compared to the Osceola bench.
This marks the end of one of the more exciting seasons for Long Island as of late. The Nets organization may have struck gold with Liddell as a two-way player, and he’s worth a serious look for a permanent deal with the organization upon season’s end. With the Flatbush 5 cycling through, and the emergence of Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, and Danny Wolf as potential cornerstones for Brooklyn, it all started on Long Island this season. The four rookies played a total of 47 games for the affiliate, with Ben Saraf leading the way with 21.
In Long Island’s first game of the Tip Off Tournament back in November, Wolf had a hellacious first half but exploded in the second half and never looked back. As for Traore, he was a turnover machine in the beginning, but quickly learned under the Long Island coaching staff and head coach Mfon Udofia how to control that elite speed. Hell, we even saw a Ben Saraf 40-point game.
Overall, we saw four Long Island players get call-ups: Nate Williams to the Warriors on a two way Grant Nelson, Malachi Smith and now Tre Scott to Brooklyn on 10-days. Two G League vets, Yuri Collins and Jay Scrubb, wound up with lucrative overseas deals in Israel and Mongolia.
Simply put, a lot happened on Long Island this season.
While it wasn’t the ending that anyone wanted, it’s hard not to view this season at the G League level as a success. We saw the team tap into the potential of Wolf and Traore, which completely propelled them to what we see today on the Brooklyn level, as well as find some potential gold strikes like Malachi Smith and Grant Nelson whose season was unfortunately cut short due to injury.
It’s hard not to wonder what Nelson’s time with Brooklyn would have looked like had it not been for his unfortunate injury. With that said, the potential is absolutely still there. Is it enough for Brooklyn to invite him to the Summer League if he’s healthy enough?
What’s Next?
While the 2025-26 season of the Long Island Nets may be over, stay tuned to NetsDaily over the summer for some breaking news as the roster starts taking shape in August or September for next season. Have a good summer, and thank you for following along.
