Nets vs. Magic preview: NBA Cup Friday

The Brooklyn Nets hit the road seeking their first win in NBA Cup play.

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

Another one. The Brooklyn Nets gave the Toronto Raptors a good battle for much of the night, but couldn’t do enough to come away with a win in front of the hometown crowd. The Nets are now 1-10 on the season, which amazingly is NOT the worst record in the NBA right now. Shout out to the Washington Wizards, I think.

The opponent tonight had big plans to jump into contention. However, it hasn’t gone to plan quite yet. The Orlando Magic are at 6-6 after an incredibly impressive win against the New York

Knicks in the Garden on Wednesday night.

Where to follow the game

YES Network on TV. Gotham Sports on streaming. WFAN on radio. Tip after 7:00 p.m. ET.

Injuries

No Cam Thomas or Haywood Highsmith. Day’ron Sharpe is probable with a left glute contusion. Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf are assigned to the G League where they will play the Maine Celtics tonight and Saturday night in Portland. You can watch the game tonight on the G League’s official website also at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Paolo Banchero is out with a groin injury. Mo Wagner is out with a left knee injury.

The game

Franz Wagner moves up a role with Banchero out. Wagner hasn’t made it to the All Star Game yet, but he was on track for that in 2024-2025 before an early December injury kept him out of action for a month and a half. Assuming health, he’s got a great chance of heading to LA for the game, and it would be incredibly well deserved. He’s shooting 35.8% from 3-point range, which is a big step up after he spent the past two seasons under 30 percent from downtown. He was the talk of the NBA summer after he competed in EuroBasket with a new shooting form. Game reps help maintain the consistency needed to master a new approach, and if Wagner can be someone teams have to pay attention to from beyond the arc, Orlando can reach higher heights. If he can’t, their ceiling tops out at the first round.

The Nets are always hunting for easy shots, and if they can create some looks for Michael Porter Jr getting to the rim, it will unlock some things for them. MPJ is shooting a career best 85.2 percent on shots inside of three feet, but is only taking 15.2% of his shots inside that area, a career worst. Without Thomas, even more falls on Porter Jr’s shoulders to carry the offense and Jordi Fernandez hopes things get easier for his star. Finding more shots at the rim would be a good start and be something they can expand on throughout the season.

Egor Dëmin has gotten more and more comfortable the more he’s played. His growth and development will be one of the big storylines for the Nets this season, as ND’s very own Lucas Kaplan recently wrote:

Dëmin is an eager kick-out passer, firing a catch-and-shoot opportunity to a teammate at the first sign of help. Sometimes he’s overeager, and you want him to just try and drive by that help. Sometimes you wish he was as audacious passing the ball to the rim as he was spraying out to shooters. But Dëmin can clearly create 3-point opportunities for teammates, though whether he’s the best in the NBA at it remains to be seen.

More reps, more times to get better at it.

The Nets have been the worst rebounding team in the NBA so far, and that presents trouble against one of the better offensive rebounding teams in the Association. Orlando is seventh in the NBA in offensive rebound rate and the Nets are last in defensive rebound rate, a combo that could make for a messy evening. Nic Claxton has picked his game up recently and they’ll need more from him going up against Wendell Carter Jr. WCJ has made himself comfortable in Orlando over the years and will look to do more on the boards with Banchero out. He’s also making a career high 45.7 percent from three point range, a gigantic leap from last year. Look for the Nets to play off of him and see if those percentages are real or just an early season blip.

Player to watch: Desmond Bane

It’s tough to be a player that’s new to a team and expected to push you into championship contention. It’s a lot to handle for anyone, and Bane is making the best of a tough spot. After a slow start to the season, he’s started to figure things out. In his last four games Bane is averaging 18.8 points per game on 48/33/93 shooting splits. He also hit the first game winner of his career along the way

That rules. For Orlando, offense was and is hard to come by. When games get tighter in postseason and scoring becomes even more challenging, they’re going to need someone that can knock down threes and play off their two young stars. A lot is riding on the shoulders of Bane this year and if he can’t deliver, things get complicated for Orlando.

Terrance Mann will look to make things hard on Bane. Brooklyn needs nonstop energy if they are going to get wins, and Mann is one of the most energetic players on the club. Brooklyn will count on him to chase Bane around the court and contest everything he throws up.

From the Vault

Legendary New York journalist Larry Brooks passed away on November 13 at the age of 75. Brooks was the definitive voice on hockey and meant a lot to his peers and fans across the world. Let’s pull up an old clip of Larry talking shop with our guy and NetsDaily alum, Dexter Henry!