The Long Island Nets returned to the court on Tuesday night for a rematch with the San Diego Clippers. The last time these two met was Sunday afternoon when Long Island walked away with a four-point win.
Unfortunately, lightning wouldn’t strike twice, as Long Island fell to San Diego, 126-125, at Nassau Coliseum. Now, all eyes turn to Nets two-way E.J. Liddell, who went down with a leg injury in the first quarter and didn’t return.
With just over four minutes remaining in the first quarter, with Brooklyn Nets teammates Jalen Wilson, Terrance Mann, and Haywood Highsmith watching courtside. Liddell went up for a shot, which didn’t look like much, but he had a bit of an awkward landing and immediately fell to the floor. Things didn’t look right for him, and he was taken out of the game immediately. Liddell never returned to the game and is expected to get examined on Wednesday. It remains to be seen how much time, if any, Liddell may miss.
Liddell was in line for a huge game before his injury. He had tallied 10 points, connecting on four of his five shots, including going two-for-three from deep. He was certainly feeling himself in this one. He also had two rebounds and one assist in just half of a quarter. This once again shows the player that the Nets signed to their two-way deal in the offseason and exactly why they liked him. He’s reliable, a good shooter, and above all else, a consistent player.
It was an odd game for Long Island. For the first time in a while, none of the Flatbush Five, the Nets five first round picks were on hand. Along with Liddell, the Nets two other two-ways played.
Tyson Etienne scored 16 points in this one. The 6’0” guard connected on just four of his 15 field goals, including hitting three of his 11 shots from deep. Etienne also picked up five rebounds and flirted with a double-double as he picked up eight assists. He also had two steals. Etienne was, however, one of five players to turn the ball over twice, which was tied for the most turnovers on the team. Overall, not an awful game for Etienne.
The third Brooklyn player in the two-way puzzle, Chaney Johnson, made the most of all his shots, connecting on four of his seven attempts, finishing with 12 points. Scoring in the double-digits has become the norm for the 6’7” Brooklyn two-way signee. Johnson, however, whiffed on both of his shots from deep.
Johnson only had five rebounds, his lowest in this three games with Long Island. The Nets sixth rookie also had three assists and perhaps more impressively, three steals. Johnson, who’s a big in every sense of the word, has served his team a bit as a ball hawk. Johnson tied his career high with three steals for the second consecutive game and has recorded multiple steals in each of his first three games with the Nets.
Watching Johnson on the court, he plays like a typical big man role, but has surprised with his shooting. In three games, he’s shot 56/38/67 while putting up 15.0 points, 7.7 boards, 3.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.0 blocks. And in each game, he’s had one of these…
Nate Williams has played some of his best ball recently after returning from illness. He once again led the team in scoring, picking up 23 points in this one. He finished connecting on eight of his 16 shots, for 50% in the game in shooting. He also managed to hit three of his seven shots from long range and went perfect from the foul line in all three tries. After the game, NetsDaily had a chance to catch up with Williams and talk about him turning his season around after a rocky few games.
“It’s the season,” Williams told ND. “It happens. You have good games, you have bad games, everyone goes through it. You don’t just… I mean, some players do. You go on spurts where you have 10+ games with 20, man it happens. But, it is what it is. I just went back to the drawing board, worked on my game, trust my work, and try to perform.”
Acquired in the trade this past offseason that saw Drew Timme sent to the South Bay Lakers, the Sag Harbor, Long Island product came back to the Island as a player with NBA experience, part of the Nets development plan. He was one of several off-season additions who the organization believed could help the Flatbush Five. He’s previously been part of four NBA organizations, playing in 47 NBA games.
The 6’6” 26-year-old wing has also been developing himself at the G League level. When asked about where he feels he developed the most so far this season, Williams told ND, “Shooting,” Williams says. “I feel like my shot has come a lot further than it was in the past. I’ve been making shots at a high clip this year with a lot of attempts. Shooting for sure, and playmaking. I’ve been passing the ball really well.”
Looking ahead, Williams tells ND that his goals for the season are pretty simple: to win. “Just win,” Williams tells ND. “I don’t really care about self goals. I’m not a selfish guy. I just want to do whatever I can to win games.”
Jay Scrubb played perhaps his best game as a Long Island Net in this one. He finished the game with 15 points, connecting on four of his eight attempts from the field. Scrubb also hit two of his six attempts from deep and went perfect from the foul line, connecting on three of his attempts. After the game, Scrubb had the chance to speak with ND about his performance.
“Just getting back to my old self,” the 25-year-old wing told ND. “It’s been a slow season, some would say. But these last couple of games, I’m just trying to keep in my head, just be aggressive. I was a guy who ran this league maybe a year or two ago. Just getting back to that old mentality and getting back to myself, I think that’s the biggest thing for me. My teammates have been harping on me, the coaches, to be aggressive. They brought me in here for a reason, I’m just trying to emphasize that now.”
Scrub stands at 6’6” and appeared in 40 G League games for Maine last season. He averaged 14.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals in 23.2 minutes per game. Overall, he’s played in 97 G League games, averaging 18.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in 28.2 minutes per contest. Ironically, he was drafted by the Nets at No. 55 in the 2020 Draft then immediately traded to the Clippers for Reggie Perry who played one year in Brooklyn.
Like Williams, the Louisville, Kentucky native has NBA experience, appearing in 24 career NBA games with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Orlando Magic. At the NBA level, he averaged 4.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per contest.
“Physically,” Scrubb said when asked about what has marked his development in Long Island. “I started, before I came over here to Long Island, I was in Turkey. So, I had to transform my body for that. Then, when I came back over here, I had to get in shape on the fly and change things up. I think that was the biggest thing for me, just improving my body and being more durable and being more available.”
When Scrubb was in Turkey, he learned how to “play fast,” he tells ND. “That’s the biggest thing overseas. The ball over here gets stuck in a guy’s hands. Over there, it’s constant movement and things like that. That’s one thing I took away from that game over there, just playing fast and getting to the next action.”
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (3-3) return to the court on Thursday, January 8th, kicking off their first of four home games at the Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada. They will be playing the Wisconsin Herd in this go-around for two games on back-to-back nights. Thursday’s game tips off at 7:00 p.m. EST, and can be watched on ESPN+ and the Gotham Sports App.
