Kenny Atkinson promised pregame that the Brooklyn Nets would one day “break through.”
“You’re just waiting for that, like ‘When is that gonna happen?’ And you look at it like, ‘Man, is it ever going to happen?’ I’m sure Jordi is going, ‘Man, everyone is saying it’ll happen,’” he said. “They play so hard. It’s eventually going to happen with the talent…They got really good coaching, good coaching staff, good front office, it’ll break through.”
Sure, it’s easy to say that when you’re at the helm of a 37-win
team, but Atkinson knows what he’s talking about. A billion years ago when he was at the helm for Brooklyn, the Nets lost 62 and then 54 games during his first two seasons. Then, in his third year, they snatched the sixth seed in the East with a 42-40 record.
“That third year when we broke through and made the playoffs, it was almost doubly rewarding, because you went through these real struggles and tough times,” he went on. “Man, I’ll never forget when we clinched the playoffs, it was like you’re winning the championship.”
Atkinson’s words should comfort Nets fans amid a rocky and uncompetitive season. However, today’s game was another reminder of how far they still need to go to get that “championship” feeling…and get in the same stratosphere of an fighting for an actual one.
The Nets started with their usual group although Terance Mann in for the resting Egor Dëmin and Day’Ron Sharpe in for Nic Claxton. Clax sat this one out with a right thumb sprain.
Brooklyn also went up against the Cavs without their top rim defender a little under two weeks ago, surrendering 58 paint points in the process. The repeat formula rendered and a similar result, at least early on. The Cavs went ahead on the scoreboard quickly with 10 points in the paint less than five minutes into the game. Brooklyn exes James Harden and Jarrett Allen collectively picked on the Nets again, combining for 12 first period points shooting 5-7 from the field and 2-2 from deep.
However, the Cavs weren’t the only ones to benefit from Claxton’s absence. After a slow first few minutes of play from both teams, Grant Nelson and Danny Wolf came in looking to disrupt the game in more ways than one. In five minutes of first period burn, they were +6 and combined for 14 points, two steals, and two assists…
Wolf just beat the first period buzzer to get the last three of those points. He hit another triple in the second to give himself 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists assists by halftime. He finished with 23/5/9Wolf got some well-deserved burn closing with the starters in place of Mann for the day and even defended the rim well during a few sequences. It was surely his best game since the Washington punt game in early February. He also closed with the starters in place of Mann.
But aside from the rookie highlights, the Nets had more pep in their step than Cleveland today, and frankly, that mattered more than anything else.
Brooklyn’s newfound length via Nelson and others slowed the Cleveland offense midway through the second, and after a corner three from Nolan Traoré, Brooklyn went ahead with about four to play in the half. With each Brooklyn stop, the Nets gave themselves a chance to get out and push against a Cleveland team at the tail end of a road trip and looking like it. The Nets grabbed eight fast break points in the second, and a 52-46 lead at halftime. Even with just two points to his name, Ziaire Williams was also a game-high +15 at that point.
Allen and Harden again put in Cleveland’s first nine points of the next half, but this time, Brooklyn managed to keep pace with a flurry of threes from Porter Jr. and Noah Clowney. The Nets didn’t give up their lead until the 5:10 mark of the third after Sam Merrill hit his first triple of the game.
Wolf returned with more highlights in the third…
But Brooklyn’s second unit couldn’t pack the same punch it had in the first half. The beard had an easier time burrowing through Brooklyn’s defense. Saraf’s lack of spacing hurt the Nets at the other end as well. He even had a Ben Simmons moment near the end of the third. He couldn’t hit the wide open three the Cleveland defense dared him to take, but at least he shot it, right?
The fourth period’s opening minutes included seven lead changes, teasing a fun finish few if anyone expected us to get. However, the back-and-forth action ceased in the final frame’s latter half. Brooklyn’s offense ran out of answers as Harden got back to dicing up the Net defense. Evan Mobley, who seemed to be the tiredest of Cleveland’s snoozy crew this afternoon despite being a +24, woke up in the period as well, working his way to eight points in the post.
But even as the Cavaliers slowly sailed to a win, the Nets kept the pressure up. Traoré pitched in four points in the fourth, including two via a tough fend-off and finish. MPJ added 10, hitting some of the most “MPJ” shots you’ll ever see.
The Nets even had the ball while down three with 22 seconds to go after Cleveland committed an eight second violation. However, the Cavs opted to foul while up three every chance they had. While playing the foul game, they made good just enough looks to eventually ice the game.
That’s eight loses in a row.
Final: Cleveland Cavaliers 106, Brooklyn Nets 102
Injury Report
As mentioned above, Nic Claxton missed tonight’s game with a right thumb sprain. We know he’s been dealing with that for a while now, but Jordi Fernández mentioned pregame that he got hit against the Spurs.
“He’s going to be out tonight, and then we’ll see how he feels after, so there’s no timetable,” Fernández also added.
Next Up
Brooklyn is back in action on Tuesday evening, playing the first of two straight vs the Miami Heat. This is Brooklyn’s last baseball-like series of the season. The Nets have lost four of their last five vs the Heat. This one tips off at 7:30 p.m. EST.
