Off the backs of Nolan Traore’s 26 points, Tyson Etienne’s 34 points and crazy ending featuring E.J. Liddell, the Long Island Nets defeated the Delaware Blue Coats in a thriller, 137-134 at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington.
Traore’s development took a big step forward in this one, as he continued his strong play for Long Island while assuming a role as a leader on this Long Island team. He connected on nine of his 17 shots, including hitting four of his five shots from beyond the arc, showing a very
good shooting performance. Traore told NetsDaily earlier this season that his shot was something he really wanted to develop, and he’s done just that.
In his 11-game G League stint, the No. 19 pick in the 2025 Draft is averaging 18.8 points on 50/43/79 shooting splits along with 5.7 assists and 2.6 rebounds. And in the seven games since he scored 28 points back on November 27, Traore is up to 21.4 points on 50/51/78 plus 6.6 assists. Drilling deeper, Traore’s weekend numbers are even more extraordinary. In back-to-back games Friday and Saturday, he averaged 28.0 points on 63/80/80 along with 8.5 assists.
Moreover, Traore only turned the ball over twice, his second straight with only two. That’s a far cry from a few games back, when he turned the ball over six times on three different occasions.
He’s the only one of the Flatbush 5 still in Long Island, but Jordi Fernandez took note of Traore’s progress during his post-game in Brooklyn.
“I watched the line, I texted him. Kyle Hines (Long Island’s assistant GM), I talked to him. He watched the game or was at the game,” said Fernandez. “And he said one of the best performances and probably the best so far.
“So very good. Very happy for him to find a game that plays well, helps the team win, all those things that now the challenge here is keep doing it, keep doing it over and over. And, you know, we can keep seeing the progress and think right now since the day he started playing with us up until now the amount of minutes (in Long Island) he’s gotten better and that’s the most important thing.“
Fernandez also took note of contributions by others, particularly the Nets two two-ways, Tyson Etienne and E.J. Liddell who combined for 55 points.
Indeed, Traore was one of three Long Island players to finish with a double-double as well as three who scored 20 or more. Liddell finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds while Yuri Collins had 10 points and 10 assists. The Etienne finished with a game-high 34 but more than that, he hit 10 of 15 from deep and made the winning shot in the game’s Elam Ending.
Etienne’s most important 3-pointer of the game came in overtime as Nate Williams found Etienne with a beautiful pass, culminating a dramatic ending. Down eight with 4:42 to go, Long Island rallied, tying the game at 129, forcing the Elam ending in which first team to get to a target score, in this game 136, wins.
The overtime went back and forth till the score was tied at 134 meaning next score would win. Then things got crazy.
The Blue Coats Marcus Bagley stole the ball from Liddell and raced towards the basket but Liddell matched Bagley’s speed and blocked Bagley’s shot, his sixth block of the night. After Johni Broome missed a tip-in, Traore grabbed the rebound and passed it up court to Nate Williams who found Etienne for an open three. Game over.
Including those late-game heroics, Liddell played an outstanding game, his double double the second in two nights. . He also shot the ball very well in general, connecting on 10 of his 17 shots, but continued to struggle from deep, whiffing on all four of his attempts. The Ohio State product’s big stat line this weekend, however, was his blocks. In the back-to-back, he tallied nine, three on Friday, then six on Saturday.
Williams was a very big reason why Long Island won this one and not just because of the final assist. He had another outstanding shooting performance, finishing with 26 points, connecting on nine of his 17 shots, and hitting three of his five from deep. He also had five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block to his credit. Stacking more and more of these performances, Williams is making a case as to why he should be given the third Brooklyn two-way player.
Yuri Collins posted a milestone with his double-digit number of assists Saturday. This marked his 58th consecutive game with more than four assists. He now stands four games behind Antonio Daniels’ spot for the fourth-longest such streak in G League history. For those wondering, the longest streak we’ve seen is 80, which is held by Curtis Stinson.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (5-6) return to the court on Tuesday, December 9th, for a showdown with the College Park Skyhawks to try and bring their record for the Tip-Off Tournament back up to .500. The game tips off at 11:00 a.m. ET at the Nassau Coliseum. It’s their annual Education Day game which normally attracts 7,000 Long Island school children. It’ll be broadcast on YES and the Gotham Sports Network as well as the G League’s official site.
