The Brooklyn Nets had their first game on the other side tonight. The other side of the trade deadline. The other side of weeks spent wondering whether Michael Porter Jr. would still be here. The other side of the Cam Thomas “era,” if you can even call it that.
But while the moves made today brought a collective sense of renewal to Brooklyn and the league at large, the Nets gave us more of the same tonight.
In fairness, Brooklyn did make some incremental improvements early on in game no. 50. The Nets
only trailed their opponent, the Orlando Magic, 27-19 after the first period. They ran with the same five they used to open against the Los Angeles Lakers, who jumped up on Brooklyn 45-23 on Tuesday night. While Egor Dëmin led all Nets after one with eight points, the eye test argues Nolan Traoré played the largest part in helping us get a different solution even with a similar formula.
Most conversations about the french ball-handler start with his speed, but tonight he had it on display in and leveraged it well. Much like Dennis Schröder used to do in Brooklyn, he did well leveraging his speed around the Orlando defense, slamming and softening on the gas pedal at all the right times.
The Magic shooting 3-12 from deep in the first also helped. They sure as hell had the looks, though they’re not known for having laser-like accuracy as the league’s fourth-worst 3-point shooting team. Still, Desmond Bane, who’s shot 49.3% against the Nets in his career, began 0-4 from deep.
It’s also not like the Nets were any better. Even with the aforementioned contributions from Traoré and Dëmin, Brooklyn’s offense began 7-22 from the field and 3-15 from deep. When the Lakers shut down the Brooklyn offense for the length of a commercial break two nights ago, multiple Nets attributed their lack of offensive production to LA’s zone. However, Orlando appeared to man and in the drop most of the first half, and the Nets didn’t fare any better. They missed the basket — and each other — over and over again.
Then, things got magical for Orlando as the first two periods crossed over. The Magic enjoyed a 22-6 run as the first quarter bled into the second. With 6:52 to go in the frame, they found themselves up by a 44-25 score. At that point, Michael Porter Jr. had only three points to his name while shooting 1-8 from the field.
The Nets did put together a 9-2 run in the period’s final two minutes, but that only made the first half deficit slightly less embarrassing — more along the lines of how it feels to get blown by on defense rather than putting up an air ball at the charity stripe. Neither are good, and both things had already happened to Brooklyn by halftime. The Nets went into it down 56-40.
Orlando scoffed at Brooklyn’s subtle attempt to claw back into it, pushing their lead up to a then game-high 21 points less than four minutes into the third. The Magic kept it there until the start of the fourth as well. They also bullied Brooklyn inside like a Flash Thompson on a rainy day, outscoring the Nets there 18-6 during the third period.
Dëmin did his best to fight back, putting down three “Egor bombs” in the period to give himself 21 points going into the fourth. Although they weren’t enough to make this a competitive watch, they gave us a chance to watch Dëmin chase down the career-high scoring mark he posted less than a week ago in Utah. He eventually got there, and had company.
Finishing with 26 points to beat his old mark by one digit, Dëmin shot 8-12 from the field and 6-10 from deep. Traoré also tied his career-best scoring output with 18 tonight, going 7-13 from the field and 3-5 from deep. He dished a career-high eight assists as well. The helped each other out on a few occasions as well…
But even before those two reached those milestones, the fourth proved to be a period dedicated to the rookies in a way we’ve yet to see this season. Brooklyn played its final six minutes with all of its rookies on the floor, doing so for the first time this season. They played the bulk of those minutes against Orlando’s deep bench guys, but it’s still worth mentioning that they won them by a 19-13 margin.
The Nets, of course, still lost the game.
Brooklyn ended up going down without applying any real pressure for a second straight contest. The ended up losing by 24 in the paint. They also turned it over 19 times leading to 24 Orlando points. They lost by 15 or more for the third time this season.
Sure, night like this are never fun, but also growth rarely comes without aches. The Nets might as well pay that price now while it’s worth it.
Final: Orlando Magic 118, Brooklyn Nets 98
Final Words on Thomas
Jordi Fernández spoke on Cam Thomas’ exit with the YES Network’s Meghan Triplett before tonight’s game. The coach acknowledged how both sides can benefit from a fresh start and had some nice words for CT given the circumstances as well
“I think right now, at this point, it’s a new opportunity for everybody, and I think that is extremely valuable,” Fernández said. “Obviously, appreciate his time with us. I’m a better coach than I was before. It’s been fun to coach somebody that can score the level that he can score, and now he has the opportunity to choose where he wants to go and make the impact that he wants to make. So, happy for him, and just we all want to wish him luck.”
Since Thomas’ previous contract was below the the non-tax payer mid-level exception, he can sign with any team, even if their in the first or second apron.
Next Up
After a three-game run of good competition, the Nets will find themselves back in a tank-off this Saturday while hosting the Washington Wizards, who are tied with them in the standings at 13-37.
The Wiz Kids took their largest competitive swing in almost a half-decade this week by trading for Anthony Davis — just a week removed from trading for Trae Young. The problem? Both are injured and not expected to suit up anytime soon. Also, Washington loses its pick this summer if they let it stray beyond the top eight. They’re incentivized and set-up to lose on Saturday. Who’s excited? The game tips off at 3:00 p.m. EST.
