Taking down the Brooklyn Nets doesn’t require much these days. The Oklahoma City Thunder did it tonight without the league MVP, his lead running mate, and the rhythm of recent play. The Nets gave OKC their first game in over a week this evening. Brooklyn, of course, had this one as back-to-back. It was also their second straight game against a title contender richer than them by 20+ wins.
Essentially, Adam Silver welcomed the Nets back from the All-Star break like Kevin McCallister “welcomed” the wet bandits into his home that one Christmas Eve.
The odds against Brooklyn tonight also increased when Nic Claxton landed on the injury report again. He’s still dealing with a sprained ankle he suffered on Thursday. That meant Day’Ron Sharpe, who Thunder fans surely remember from his 25/15/5 game last year, would start in his place.
OKC seemed to bring the best out of Day’Day once more, at least in the game’s early stages. Sharpe scored Brooklyn’s first four points of the night, working well with Nolan Traoré, who had a far easier time getting into the paint compared to Thursday. Fellow rookie Drake Powell also had a few nice sequences…
That said, Brooklyn’s best friend in the first had to be the rust still hampering OKC’s offense. The Thunder, who carried the NBA’s second best two-point field goal percentage going into the break (57.7%), shot just 23.1% on such shots in the first. The Nets, uncoincidentally, maintained a 23-21 lead after one.
However, the quiet, slow approaching storm is just as dangerous as the one that’s accurately forecasted. Thunder struck in the second, as OKC enjoyed a 15-3 run that was more than enough to put them in front on the scoreboard.
Brooklyn, shooting 2-23 from deep in period, seemed rattled by the encompassing cumulonimbus clouds. Even while queuing up high percentage looks, the Nets failed to find nylon over and over again. It took them over eight minutes to make their first field goal in the second. They also had nine turnovers and just three field goals in the frame. Naturally, OKC outscored them there, doing so by a 29-10 margin. They led at the break by a 50-33 one.
“I think that when you play under duress, you feel it, and you feel it when you’re shooting is open,” Fernández said. “They do a great job. There’s a reason why they’re number one defense. But you know, the 17% is something that I’m not worried about because I know the shots are going to go in. So, we just got to continue to be convinced and take those shots.”
Even for the Nets, those numbers were horrid enough to require some sort of regression/return to the mean, and the basketball gods paid their debt as soon as play resumed. The Nets put together an 8-0 run in the top half of the third, starting the period 7-11 from the field and 2-3 from deep. They later cut it to 10 with 6:42 to go, and then eight with 2:39 remaining in the period.
Sharpe and Traoré had to have been praying the hardest at halftime. They led the way again with a combined 11 points on 4-5 shooting during that initial stretch. Porter Jr. and Danny Wolf captained the second run. Wolf notched eight points in the period while shooting 4-7 from the field, out-hustling the shorthanded Thunder to his spots on multiple occasions. MPJ added nine points, three assists, and came away with as sneaky a steal as you’ll see from a 6’10” guy in the backcourt…
After putting in just 33 points in the first half, Brooklyn added 34 in the third, and went into the fourth down 77-67.
“It was handling their pressure. I also thought getting the stops, when you get to your spots in transition, I think it’s a little easier to find those shots,” Fernández said. “We were good defensively, get stops, be able to run and create turnovers. That was good to see, and you know, better cutting. I think Mike did a great job in the third quarter finishing his cuts to all the way to the rim, as tall as he is. Day’Ron and Danny did a great job throwing the ball over the top.”
But rather than a legitimate comeback, Brooklyn’s efforts were more like back bumper collision warning for OKC, telling them to hit the gas. Each time the Nets got within striking distance, the Thunder surged ahead and pushed the lead back to double digits. An 11-3 start to the final frame put them back up 18 with about nine minutes remaining.
The Nets never pressured OKC again after that. Unlike vs Cleveland, Fernández kept the starters on the floor for the majority of garbage time, but it mattered not. Brooklyn shot a soft 5-15 from the field through the fourth’s first nine minutes, which simply won’t cut it against most teams, let alone the champs.
Despite shooting 1-9 from deep, Porter Jr. ended up with 22 points, finding his way to the line often, where he went 9-11. He also dished five assists, grabbed nine rebounds, and came away with two steals. Traoré followed him with 17 points, three assists, and two steals. He shot a modest 5-11 from the field, but turned it over four times. Sharpe was the only other Net to reach double figures, grabbing 12 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and a block.
In the end, it was a rather forgettable contest for Brooklyn. They fought enough to keep it from being embarrassing and noteworthy by consequence, but never threw a strong enough punch to ever challenge their opponent.
That said, in a season like this, I think we could all use some amnesia.
Final: Oklahoma City Thunder 105, Brooklyn Nets 86
Injury Report
We mentioned Claxton missing tonight’s game, but Ziaire Williams also didn’t suit up tonight for personal reasons. It feels worth mentioning that Porter Jr. and Egor Dëmin did both play tonight though, making it the first time each has appeared in a back-to-back this season.
Milestone Watch
- Noah Clowney’s first 3-pointer tonight against OKC was the 200th of his career, which adds to his total as the most by a player under 22 years old in franchise history. In his 118th game, he becomes the fastest player in Nets history to reach 200 career 3-pointers.
- Michael Porter Jr. had 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals at the end of Q3 tonight in Oklahoma City. It is his eighth time logging at least 15 PTS, 5 AST and 5 REB this season; he had seven such games through his first six career seasons.
Brooklyn’s loss combined with the Indiana Pacers loss to Washington Wizards puts the Nets in sole possession of the fourth place in Tankathon ranking and only one game out of second.
Next Up
The Nets will head back across the country to face the Atlanta Hawks Sunday afternoon. It’ll be their first look at the Hawks in the post-Trae Young era. The game tips off at 3:30 p.m. EST. After that, Brooklyn will return for a quick two at The Clays before hitting the road again.
- Boxscore: Oklahoma City Thunder 105, Brooklyn Nets 86 – NBA
- Game Highlights: Oklahoma City Thunder 105, Brooklyn Nets 86 (Video) – NBA
- Jordi Fernandez PostGame Interview (Video) – YES Network
- Day’Ron Sharpe PostGame Interview (Video) – YES Network
- New acquisition Jared McCain scores 21 as the Thunder beat the Nets 105-86 – AP
- Sloppy Nets get served brutal reminder from Thunder in blowout loss – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- UNC’s Caleb Wilson forcing his way into draft conversations that could include tanking Nets ($) – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Nets’ comeback bid stalls in 105-86 road loss to Thunder ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
- NBA’s anti-tanking push could reward Nets’ rebuild ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
- Nets player grades after 105-86 loss at Jared McCain, Thunder – Sharif Phillips-Keaton – USA TODAY