The Long Island Nets returned to their home court one more time for the regular season as they faced off with their old friend, Tyrese Martin, and the Delaware Blue Coats. This marked the final regular-season home game for Long Island, and potential final home game in general for the season, depending on how the playoffs pan out. Despite Hunter Cattoor’s 28-point night, Long Island fell to Delaware, losing its sixth game in a row with a depleted roster.
For the third straight game, Cattoor finished
with a career-high in scoring. With all three two-way players, 10-day Malachi Smith and all of the rookies in Brooklyn for the time being, the 6’3” 25-year-old guard has been the player who stepped up the most in their absence. Two games ago, Cattoor picked up a career-high of 21 points; last game, he found a new career-high of 25 points, and on Wednesday against Delaware, Cattoor once again scored a career-high with 28 points.
But while Cattoor put up big numbers, former Net and current Philly two-way Tyrese Martin was the game’s scoring star putting up 45 points on 10-of-16 from three…
Waived by Brooklyn at the deadline to make way for Josh Minott and Ochai Agbaji, he clearly played with a chip on his shoulder, and it worked.
Cattoor shot the ball very well. He connected on 11 of his 16 tries, including hitting six of his nine tries from deep for an excellent 66% from deep. The Virginia tech product became the fourth player in franchise history to make at least five three-pointers in three consecutive games, and just the second to do so while shooting at least 50% in each. His impressive game didn’t stop there. He also hauled in four rebounds, picked up two assists, and had two steals to his credit. Following the game, Cattoor spoke with NetsDaily about his performance.
“Obviously we’re going through a little stretch right now of losing,” Cattoor tells ND. “So, just trying to get back on the winning side. We’re out there trying to do the right thing. So, playing hard, giving effort, obviously, has just been able to put a couple of good games back together. But, just trying to find different ways for all of us to connect. Like today, we only had eight players out there. So, just kind of going through it, sticking together, but knowing that we clinched the playoffs, so gearing up and getting ready for that.”
Cattoor has now scored a total of 101 points in his last five games. Hitting 28, 25, 21, 7, 20 points in consecutive games. When asked about his recent hot streak and what he attributes it to the most, Cattoor told ND, “just staying ready.” He continued, “I want to give all glory to God for giving me the strength to go out there and do that. Going through a long season, you never know when your number is going to be called and which kind of role you’re going to be in, so just staying ready and going through all of that, and leaning on the work I put in and all of the coaches and staff keeping me ready.”
Cattoor has grown to be quite the player for Long Island. After riding the bench for most of the season, we’ve seen him develop, becoming Long Island’s best scorer with the absence of in the Flatbush 5, three two-ways absence and now Malachi Smith on a 10-day.
“I feel like I’ve grown in playing in different areas.” He continues, “It’s just my strengths, being able to shoot the ball and play defense is something I hung my hat on. I feel like I’ve been one of those reliable defenders who go out there every night and hold my own. Also, just kind of looking for different shots when they move me off the three-point line, and be able to get downhill and finish at the rim or play make for others.”
As far as his future goals, Cattoor told ND, “I don’t know, I haven’t thought that far. Kind of just taking it day-by-day, but yeah. I don’t think too much about the future. Just taking the next step, getting ready for Cleveland next Saturday and then the playoffs.”
The second-highest scorer for Long Island came off the bench. Jamal Mashburn Jr. played one of his best games as a Long Island Net on Wednesday night. Mashburn Jr., the son of the legendary Maverick Jamal Mashburn, finished with 24 points, connecting on 10 of his 18 tries, but only went one-for-five from deep. Mashburn Jr. also had six rebounds and five assists. Mashburn Jr. is 6’2” – 6’8” shorter than his All-Star father – and 25 years old
While he’s been adjusting to the NBA-level, Mashburn Jr. is no stranger to being a top-tier scorer. He led the Mountain West Conference in scoring with 19.1 points per game during his junior season at New Mexico. Also, in 23 games (all starts) last season for the Temple Owls, Mashburn Jr. averaged 22.0 points per game, which led the AAC. When he gets hot, he is on key with all of his shots, and we saw that on Wednesday.
David Muoka had another good game starting at the center spot. The 6’11” Hong Kongese center connected on six of his nine tries, for a total of 16 points. Muoka was also perfect from the foul line, connecting on all three of his tries for four points. He once again flirted with a double-double, finishing with eight rebounds. Muoka also had three assists and a season-high of five blocks.
While Dre Davis has been a scoring machine as of late, he took a bit of a step back in this one. After scoring nine points in the first two minutes of the game, it looked like we were in line to have a monster game from Davis. However, he only found the basket three more times in the night, for a total of 15 points.
Alex Schumacher, the 6’3” 25-yer-old once again got the start for Long Island, tallying 15 points, connecting on seven of his 15 tries. However, he was only able to find the bucket once out of his four tries from deep. He also had four rebounds and six assists; his assists were tied for the team lead. His one downfall came in the ball protection department as he turned the ball over three times, the most on the team.
Javon Freeman-Liberty once again got the start, but he continued to not look himself. After starting so strongly with Long Island, he once again had a bad shooting game, connecting on just two of his 10 tries, including going one-for-seven from deep. Freeman-Liberty finished with eight points, two rebounds, and six assists, which were tied with Schumacher for the team lead.
Long Island got off to a strong start, knocking down the team’s first eight field goal attempts to tie the franchise record for consecutive field goals made without a miss to start a game. The Nets opened the game with a 15-4 advantage, but the Blue Coats responded with a 22-9 run from 6:50 to 1:48 in the first to close the opening frame with a 35-32 lead. Long Island regained the lead with a 14-6 run from 11:45 to 7:41 in the second, but Delaware closed the half on a 15-3 run in the last 2:47 of the second quarter to take a 67-61 advantage into the break. The Nets shot 52 percent (26-for-50) from the field in the first half while scoring 12 points off nine Delaware turnovers.
A tightly-contested third quarter featured five lead changes and five ties, with the Nets using a 12-4 run in the third to take a 91-89 lead into the fourth. Long Island’s defense held the Blue Coats to just 33.3% (6-for-18) shooting from the field in the third, while Mashburn Jr. scored 14 points for the highest-scoring quarter of his career. The Blue Coats started the fourth quarter on a 14-0 run from 10:23 to 8:37 to take control of the game. Long Island fought back from a 13-point deficit to cut it to a single possession in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, but the Blue Coats held on for a 120-118 win.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets look to end their six-game skid, as they return to the court on Saturday night, March 28th, as they travel to Ohio to take on the Cleveland Charge. This marks Long Island’s final game of the regular season before they gear up for the first round of the NBA G League playoffs which begin next Tuesday. The game tips off at 7:00 p.m. EST and can be watched on the NBA G League website.
