The Brooklyn Nets are still waiting for the clean, complete game they wanted to start the season, and now they have to chase it on tired legs.
Brooklyn enters Sunday’s matchup with the Indiana Pacers at 0-2, trying to sort out the little things that have already tripped them up. The opener against the injury-riddled Charlotte Hornets was a game of inconsistent offense.
The loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers was more about not holding together for four quarters. Either way, the message from the Nets is the same: the fixes are there if they execute them.
"I think the next step is to see how we learn from the couple of games we've played. From the playing hard and with intentions from Game 1 to 2, it was less anxiety, more focus on playing," Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said prior to Sunday's game against the Indiana Pacers. Fernandez sees Sunday as part of the same learning curve, even with it coming on the second night of a back-to-back.
"Game 2 was a lot of honest mistakes on trying, but we didn't do certain things well, especially we're not focused to finish quarters. A lot of the mistakes of fouling and protecting our rim in different ways, but I think that it's all correctable when I watch it," Fernandez continued.
" I'm not extremely worried on how this is happening. We were two possessions away in a game that felt like we were almost there, but was a little bit of a lead for them and we kept fighting and fighting and the team never quit."
The Charlotte game was tight throughout, with Brooklyn never losing a quarter by more than four points in a 110-103 defeat. Saturday’s 125-121 loss in Cleveland looked different for long stretches, as the Nets dug a hole as large as 22 points before charging back and coming up just short.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said he sees the talent on Brooklyn’s roster, especially in the scoring punch of Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle.
"They're [Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle] two great scorers and great players, really. There's no other way to say it.
Both of those guys have had 40-point nights in the NBA, and the fourth quarter last night is a great example of how dangerous these guys are. [Egor] Demin's shooting the heck out of it now," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of the Nets prior to Sunday's matchup.
Carlisle’s view is clear enough: the Nets have pieces that can make them dangerous. The job now is turning that into a complete night, something Brooklyn has yet to do through its first two games.
In Other News...
Nets Showed One Encouraging Trait Fans Cant Ignore In Loss
The Nets had a hard time keeping pace with Cleveland for much of the night, but they found something to hang onto in the fourth quarter. Brooklyns shooting and defense were uneven throughout the game, yet the teams effort on the glass and general fight back into the contest gave the building a different feel as the comeback started to take shape. Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. helped keep the offense afloat, and the Nets looked far more connected when the game started slipping away from them.
Egor Dmin was at the center of that push, giving Brooklyn a burst of energy late as the Cavaliers were forced to sweat out the finish. Even in defeat, the Nets showed a level of resilience that has been missing too often, and that matters for a team still trying to establish a baseline for how it wants to compete. The loss stings, but the way Brooklyn closed is the kind of stretch fans will remember the next time this group needs a little more edge. [Read more 🡒]
Nets 0-2 Start Still Brought A Promising Sign Fans Needed
The Nets are still searching for their first win after an 0-2 start, but there has already been one encouraging development for fans to latch onto. Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. both flashed the kind of early-season promise Brooklyn can build around, giving the team something beyond the scoreboard to point to as the season settles in.
Demins play in particular offered a reminder that the Nets may have found a young piece worth watching closely, while Brown has been easing in after his preseason ankle injury. In a league where so much attention gets paid to the established stars and the headlines around them, Brooklyns early days have at least produced a couple of bright spots the organization can keep developing. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Suddenly Need Answers In The Middle At The Worst Time
The middle of the floor has become a suddenly uneasy place for the Clippers, and it happened early against the Nets when Ivica Zubac went down in the first quarter after rolling his left ankle. He left the game with 4:57 remaining in the period, and with the roster already dealing with injuries elsewhere, any issue involving the starting center carries extra weight this time of year.
The team later said Zubac had a left ankle sprain and would not return, which only sharpens the concern around what comes next. For Brooklyn, the matchup itself may fade quickly, but the bigger question is how the Clippers manage the frontcourt if Zubac is forced to miss time during an already crowded stretch. [Read more 🡒]