The Nets keep giving their fan base reasons to pay attention in October.
Brooklyn rolled past Washington 131-122 on Monday night to move to 3-0 in preseason play, and the offense again looked like the real story. After opening exhibition play with a 124-90 demolition of Charlotte and then beating Philadelphia 114-108, the Nets kept the momentum going on the road against the Wizards.
The lineup was back to full strength in key spots, too. Day’Ron Sharpe and Michael Porter Jr. both returned after missing Thursday’s game with injuries, joining Egor Dëmin, Keon Ellis and Julius Randle in the starting five.
Porter wasted no time picking up where he left off. In just seven first-quarter minutes, he scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and hit 2 of his 3 attempts from deep.
Randle also made an early impact, putting up seven points, four assists and no turnovers in his first eight minutes while showing more of the playmaking that could matter a lot for Brooklyn this season. Sharpe chipped in as well, with the trio of Porter, Randle and Sharpe accounting for 23 of Brooklyn’s first 26 points.
Sharpe even opened the night by drilling a three on the Nets’ first possession.
The Nets stayed hot through the opening quarter, shooting 60.9% from the field and 45.5% from three while scoring 35 points. They also did real damage inside, piling up 14 points in the paint compared with Washington’s eight.
The one early problem was rebounding. The Wizards grabbed five offensive boards to Brooklyn’s one, which stood out even with Sharpe on the floor.
Brooklyn kept the pressure on in the second quarter, with Nolan Traoré bringing a burst off the bench. He scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 10 minutes and knocked down two threes, making a case for a meaningful role in Fernández’s rotation, most likely as the backup point guard.
Ellis stayed steady as well, scoring seven points while hitting both of his three-point tries in 11 minutes. Randle kept setting the table, finishing the half with seven assists in only 11 minutes.
By halftime, it was clear defense was not dominating the conversation. The teams combined for 145 points in the first half, and both were shooting 50% from three. Brooklyn’s interior defense, one of its question marks entering the season, didn’t exactly inspire confidence before the break.
Washington made its push coming out of halftime. Brooklyn scored just five points in the first 4:25 of the third quarter after putting up 73 in the first half, and the Wizards briefly moved ahead by four.
Dëmin had a rough shooting night, finishing with two points on 1-of-6 shooting and missing all four of his three-point attempts. Porter, meanwhile, continued to impact the game beyond scoring, adding two steals and a block in 20 minutes.
Brooklyn settled back in and closed the game strong enough to finish the job, helped by more productive minutes from Noah Clowney and Grant Nelson. Clowney finished with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three, after a quieter first half.
It was his second straight strong preseason outing. Nelson also turned heads in limited time, scoring nine points in the fourth quarter while grabbing four rebounds, three of them offensive, and going 4-of-5 from the field with one made three.
The final numbers told the story of Brooklyn’s night: 56.8% shooting from the field, 17 made threes and 50 points in the paint. The Nets also committed 18 turnovers, including 10 in the second half, which remains a concern with a young roster.
Brooklyn will finish its four-game preseason schedule Wednesday night in Miami against the Heat, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, the game is also expected to be the debut of No. 6 overall pick Mikel Brown Jr., who has missed the first three preseason games with an ankle roll. He practiced fully over the weekend and got some work in 5-on-5 on Monday morning.
In Other News...
Nets' Fast Start Is Giving Fans A Reason To Believe
Brooklyn kept its preseason roll going with a 131-122 win over the Wizards, moving to 3-0 while flashing the kind of offensive pace that can make October feel a little more meaningful. Michael Porter Jr. was a steady scoring presence, and the Nets got useful minutes from DayRon Sharpe, Egor Dmin, Keon Ellis and Julius Randle in a game that featured plenty of shot-making on both sides.
The part that stood out most was how Brooklyns second unit changed the feel of the game, helping the Nets separate in a third-quarter stretch that turned a back-and-forth matchup into a more comfortable finish. Preseason results rarely tell the whole story, but for a team trying to build habits and confidence, this was the kind of performance that gives fans something to watch a little more closely. [Read more 🡒]
Nolan Traor Is Turning Up The Heat In Brooklyns Guard Battle
Nolan Traor is starting to make his case the right way for Brooklyn, and preseason has given the rookie guard a chance to show how much his confidence has grown. In the win over Washington, he looked more comfortable as a scorer and a shooter, continuing a steady run of efficient offense over three exhibition games after spending the offseason working on his shot and his finishing.
For a Nets team that has made clear minutes have to be earned, that matters. The guard room is crowded, and Traor is trying to carve out space for himself while competing with Mikel Brown Jr., Egor Dmin and Ben Saraf, so every clean shooting night adds to the argument that he belongs in the mix when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Nets May Have Found A Core Fit Sooner Than Anyone Expected
The preseason has offered a pretty encouraging look at the Brooklyn Nets, and a lot of that early momentum has come from the wing tandem of Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. Randle has leaned into a primary playmaking role while also giving the group some veteran steadiness, and Porter has been the kind of scorer who can change the feel of a game in a hurry. Through three exhibition wins, the fit has looked cleaner than many might have expected this early in the process.
What makes it matter for Brooklyn is not just the box score production, but the way the two seem to complement each other as the regular season nears. Randle has talked about helping the Nets contend, and if this early chemistry holds, the team may have stumbled onto something useful before the games start counting. The real question now is whether that preseason rhythm can survive once opponents spend more time game-planning for them. [Read more 🡒]