It was a big game for the Long Island Nets Friday night. The Nets G League affiliate won their their straight and are now in fourth place in the East … only two games behind the Greensboro Swarm who they’ve beat twice in a row. It was also a big night for the Nets three two-ways, piling up 68 points with E.J. Liddell’s 36 leading the way in a close game.
Liddell’s new career-high plus strong showings from Chaney Johnson and Tyson Etienne, the Long Island Nets were critical in knocking off the G-League’s
best team, the Swarm.
Liddell played his best game of the season, his 36 points securing a new career high in points in a single game. Before Friday, Liddell’s career-high of 35 points had been set in March of 2024 when he was on the Birmingham Squadron.
Liddell shot the ball incredibly well. He connected on 11 of his 17 shot attempts, including 3-of-5 from 3-point land, and an immaculate 8-of-8 from the foul stripe. Not only did Liddell have a fantastic day shooting the ball, but he also hauled in 13 rebounds, securing yet another double-double.
Chaney Johnson, Long Island’s youngest player at 23, continued to make his impact on the game from the bench. He once again finished near the top of the team in scoring, this time with 20 points. He shot the ball a respectable 50%, connecting on six of his 12 tries. However, he did miss both of his tries from deep, which has been the most inconsistent part of his game. So far, he’s shot 34.4% from deep.
C.J. also had five rebounds, four of which were offensive. Johnson had three turnovers, which were tied for the team lead, and were one of the only blemishes on his stat sheet. Johnson’s best traits aren’t the ones you can read on the sheet; his physicality and his defense truly set him apart from everyone else. He remains the only two-way player to not yet play a game in Brooklyn.
The third and final two-way player in this one, Tyson Etienne, finished with 12 points on 50% shooting. Shooting-wise, this may have been one of Etienne’s quieter games, as he only took eight shots.
Malachi Smith finished this one with another very strong, multifaceted performance. On top of Smith’s 16 points and connecting on six of his 11 tries, Smith also hauled in four rebounds and seven assists. Smith remains one of Long Island’s most complete top playmakers. Despite being much shorter at 6’4” than the bigs he often goes up against, Smith can compete with them. To cap it off, he had just one turnover, a big drop from his seven two games back.
Now, let’s get to the curious case of Drake Powell. Powell is a player that many Brooklyn and Long Island fans included are still trying to get a good read on. Since being sent to play for Long Island for an extended period , Powell has seemingly turned it up a notch, particularly in his aggressiveness. In his last game two nights again, the 6’6” guard notched 21 points. However, Friday night, we saw a bit of a different story…
Powell connected on just four of his nine shots for 11 points. This was a long way removed from his nine-for-16 performance just two days ago. He did, however, pick up one of the coolest-looking dunks of the night as he absolutely posterized a Greensboro defender. Powell also had five rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block.
Brooklyn’s old friend, Tosan Evbuomwan, looked excellent for Greensboro, tallying 20 points, which was tied for a team-high. Evbuomwan made Long Island’s defense look simply foolish as he scored at ease. I guess this game meant a little something more to him.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (18-11) enjoy a nice nine-day vacation as they don’t return to the court until Sunday, March 15th, as they travel to Florida to face off with former Brooklyn Nets two-way player, Reece Beekman, and the Osceola Magic who are now tied with the Swarm . The game tips off at 3:30 p.m. EST and can be watched on Prime Video.
