After Brooklyn’s hardest hitting loss of this young season, the Big Easy was the perfect place to go next on their road trip. The Nets obliterated the New Orleans Pelicans this evening at the Smoothie King Center. Few wins have been more necessary, and even fewer still more deserved.
However, the contest wasn’t advertised as the layup it turned into.
Brooklyn’s young guards took a spin on the injury carousel before this one. Earlier today, the Nets announced that Egor Dëmin, who hasn’t played in two
weeks due to a bone bruise, would return tonight. However, the Nets also said that Nolan Traoré, who hasn’t missed a game yet, would sit with right calf soreness. They also ruled out Mikel Brown Jr. due to an illness.
So, ball-handling was at premium in the bayou. Dëmin and Danny Wolf made up the starting back court, with usual suspects Michael Porter Jr., Julius Randle, and Day’Ron Sharpe.
With the aforementioned injuries, Jordi Fernández didn’t have much choice when putting together his starting five, but still made the right one. With the Pelicans giving up more opponent points in the paint than anyone so far this year, starting with the jumbo lineup made sense, and it showed on the court, with the Nets outscoring New Orleans 24-10 inside during the first period. The most they had in an opening frame all season before that was 18.
Evidence by the above, Brooklyn’s reserves got in on the action too. Noah Clowney, fresh off a game where fouled out in just over seven minutes of play, knew he had to take advantage and acted accordingly, putting up six points with a block and a steal in the opening period. Wagner also put up seven points, Wolf had five, and Porter Jr. led with nine. The Nets also led after one, up 39-25, giving them their largest advantage after a first quarter since April 2024.
An effective and easy-to-follow, Brooklyn had no reason to abandon its game plan focused on attacking the interior in the second. The Nets got eight of their first 11 points in the second inside, and after MPJ topped that off with a three from the top of the key, Brooklyn had gone up by 17 with 7:29 to go in the second.
And, while learning in real-time how much harmful poor paint defense can be, the Nets were careful not to give up what their opponents had so frivolously surrendered. Sharpe was especially quick tonight fading back to provide extra defense around the rim, even as Zion Williamson continued to try and rummage his way in.
With roughly three and a half minutes left in the half, Saddiq Bey threatened Brooklyn with another ugly end to a quarter. Hustling down after a Porter Jr. turnover led to an easy look in transition, he netted a triple that quickly brought it back to an 11 point game.
The Nets didn’t take it lightly. They responded with a 13-7 jolt that involved two threes from Terance Mann, one as a direct response to Bey’s and another just before the horn. Brooklyn ended up going into the half up 83-66. It was the most points the Nets had scored a first half since scoring putting up 91 on the Golden State Warriors in 2022. It’s the third most points they’ve ever put up in a first half in team history.
By that point, Brooklyn’s paint scoring advantage had swelled 40-24. They also carried a +9 advantage on the boards, along with five rejections.
So, after a period of total interior dominance, that meant one thing one, it was time for Day’Ron Sharpe to begin shooting threes. No, I’m not kidding. And no, it didn’t cost them the game. In fact, it was quiet the opposite.
The Brooklyn big man hit two triples in the third’s opening five minutes to give his team’s lead a quick buff. He also dished one to Egor Dëmin, starting to find his groove. More on that later.
The Nets weren’t just scoring from inside anymore. They were scoring from everywhere, and the Pelicans couldn’t do so from anywhere, everywhere, all at once. Not before long, home team had a look on their face Brooklyn knows all too well: one of discouragement. They stopped boxing out, closing out, and just seemed like they wanted out. They only put up 15 points in the period.
And the Nets? Like Bill Murray and the mid 2000s, they were eager to play a new, more serious role. After Noah Clowney scooped and slammed up a missed three from Mann, Brooklyn earned their largest lead of the game, going up 104-77 with about three and a half left in the third.
In the fourth, it got to a point where you almost wanted the Nets to cut it out, irrationally afraid they were burning through all their makes before the end of the roadtrip. Keon Ellis and Wagner added back-to-back threes to begin the final frame, getting the team to a 16-34 mark from deep by that point.
The Nets have long used fourth quarter blowouts to give their young players real game reps. Tonight, they got to do so from the other side of the scoreboard. Not long after the Ellis and Wagner makes, Dëmin added his own pair of triples. The sophomore looked more comfortable than he has all season. The Nets seemed to run a number of the actions they normally reserve for Porter Jr. to come around off ball and rise up from three. Like his mentor, he did each with confidence each time…
Coming in like Mariano Rivera in a game where the Yankees were already up seven or eight runs, Dëmin added 12 points in the fourth to bring his total for the game to 22 on 5-8 shooting from the field and 4-6 shooting from deep.
Porter Jr. also finished with 22 points while shooting 7-14 from the field and 4-10 from three. He also dished three assists, grabbed a steal, and six rebounds. Randle had 17 points, five assists, and four rebounds after shooting 6-16 from the field. Sharpe had 15 points, five assists, four rebounds, and four blocks, shooting 5-6 from the field and 2-3 from deep.
Off the bench, both Wagner and Clowney had 16 points each. Wagner added four assists while shooting 6-8 from the field. Clowney shot 5-7 from the field and 2-3 from three, also grabbing two steals, a block, and three rebounds.
Final: Brooklyn Nets 145, New Orleans Pelicans 111
Bonus Reading
This morning, veteran NBA writer James Herbert published a story for The Ringer on our very own Net Income. In it, you can hear from Pooch, Lucas, Sean Marks, and the countless others who’ve gotten close with the man behind Nets Daily over the years. I encourage all of you to check it out, and throw James a follow, who is as talented of a story teller as you’ll find.
Next Up
Brooklyn concludes its roadtrip on Saturday evening with a bout against the Memphis Grizzlies in Grind City. At the time of writing, the Grizz are 7-3. Isn’t it cool when the lottery decides to bless you instead flip you upside down, tar and feather you? This one tips off at 8:00 p.m. EST.
