It’s pre-season. The Brooklyn Nets opened theirs Tuesday night in Charlotte, putting on quite a performance, especially on the offensive end, as they sprayed the Hornets en route to a 124-90 victory. Hornets are on hold as Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller and Coby White are all out.
Thursday, it was the Philadelphia 76ers’ turn to be the showmen. Remember Brooklyn’s “Big 3”? Well, Philly now has a “Big 5” and they all took the court for the first time tonight as LeBron James and Jaylen Brown joined Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.
The Nets started Egor Dëmin, Keon Ellis, Noah Clowney, Julius Randle and Mo Wagner. Michael Porter Jr. and Day’Ron Sharpe are out. Mikel Brown Jr. remains on the board with a rolled ankle.
Hydrogen bomb against coughing baby? It certainly sounded like that before the game. Few, if any, teams can field a five that matches Philadelphia’s in terms of point-blank talent. The Nets certainly can’t do it on paper.
However, this was a basketball game, not a comic book, even though Philly’s starting lineup looked like The Avengers. The Nets pulled off as impressive a win as the preseason allows. Here are some takeaways from this upheaval.
6:37, 1Q – Brooklyn Nets 15, Philadelphia 76ers 15
- There are already reportedly questions about Brooklyn’s interior defense this season, with Day’Ron Sharpe stepping in as the primary rim protector. So with Sharpe sitting out tonight, the arc inside broke early. The 76ers scored an abundance of their first quarter buckets with baseline cuts. When the regular season begins, the Nets will want to make sure their backcourt communicates better with the frontcourt. Most importantly, they’ll want to make sure Day’Ron Sharpe plays.
- The Sixers weren’t the only ones trying to attack the rim early. Dëmin, who talked all summer about expanding his shooting regime, got two points early in the first. He beat LeBron James off the dribble and drove through Joel Embiid to score at the rim. I know this sounds like Nets fan fiction, but trust me, it happened. This is as clear a sign of his growth as you will see.
5:52, 1Q – Brooklyn Nets 19, Philadelphia 76ers 15
- Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Chaney Johnson, Danny Wolf and Josh Minott replaced the starters at this point in the first. This may not make sense given the absences of Porter Jr. and Sharpe already disrupting the rotation, but it could also be a sign of what Jordi Fernández’s bench will look like in the regular season.
- This five also played a bit in the 2-3 zone. Always attacking on the baseline, Philly had no difficulty scoring against it.
0:31, 1Q – Brooklyn Nets 31, Philadelphia 76ers 31
- Chaney Johnson nailed a three less than 10 seconds into the shot clock near the end of the first. We know Chaney can shoot, and we know Jordi Fernández never encouraged his guys to let him fly. However, Mo Wagner also managed a semi-contested corner earlier in the game, which raises a few more eyebrows. So even though the personnel has changed, Jordi’s philosophy on filming seems to be the same.
10:01 a.m., 2nd quarter – Brooklyn Nets 36, Philadelphia 76ers 32
- Once the starters and reserves started mixing, one thing became clear: the Nets are going to stick with the change. I saw Drake Powell on LeBron James at least twice at the top of the key. Brooklyn also did a lot of it in its first preseason game.
- NBA defenses often live and die by how they defend screens. And, in the second, Brooklyn lived by it, forcing four turnovers in the first four minutes of the period. They were particularly physical in their pursuit of those extra possessions, often along the elbow and in the low post. Wagner visibly frustrated James on several occasions.
4:24, 2Q – Brooklyn Nets 44, Philadelphia 76ers 45
- As the Nets look to establish themselves as that gritty team no one wants to play, wreaking havoc in the backcourt seems to be the order of the day. Traore took that possession away from Jaylen Brown to present Danny with an alley-oop as just proof to support that claim. The Nets ended up turning the 76ers over 22 times by the end of the game.
1:12, 2Q – Brooklyn Nets 52, Philadelphia 76ers 56
- On the other side, however, Traore may need to work on his chemistry with Randle. He had a few stray dumps as the two ran pick-and-rolls throughout the second. Those turnovers helped Philly regain the lead going into the break.
HALF – Brooklyn Nets 56, Philadelphia 76ers 58
- Egor was willing and able to consistently probe the interior against a legit NBA defense, with several shots at the basket aside from the aforementioned one against Embiid. That means it’s real now. He doesn’t just attack G-League players or rookies in Las Vegas. He does it against All-NBA defenders. Dëmin’s touch around the rim still needs work, but you’ll surely take the improvement for what it is. It’s also rare to see an athlete identify such an obvious weakness in their game and work so deliberately to address it. He lived up to everything we’ve heard about his work ethic, and this may be the clearest evidence yet.
- This team has the potential to be a tough and painful matchup for the contenders that many of us want them to be. Wagner caused King James to yell at officials like a spoiled monarch on several occasions. As Philly’s turnovers increased, Drake Powell also fouled an Embiid screen in the backcourt. Embiid found himself facing Ed Malloy and got a technician. Needless to say, the Nets pissed off the 76ers, and they did it in a game that doesn’t even matter. It’s revealing.
9:47, 3Q – Brooklyn Nets 60, Philadelphia 76ers 64
- You don’t often see multi-year All-Stars on the other side of the 30 playing in the second half of a preseason game. We see them diving on the field even less to recover lost balls. Julius Randle did both here. I think Nets fans are going to like him more than they think.
- The severity of Randle’s ball at the other end is also a factor. He started much of Brooklyn’s offense early in the third simply by coming in and giving the ball back to shooters. Having that to lean on during broken plays or wayward possessions will be huge, and it’s something Brooklyn hasn’t had in a long time.
5:02, 3Q – Brooklyn Nets 82, Philadelphia 76ers 75
- Noah Clowney and Danny Wolf can still do that thing where they make a handful of threes in a flash after having little to no points the entire game. If the Nets can make good on their intentions to stay in more games this year, it will also make these streaks more fun to watch.
1:34, 3Q – Brooklyn Nets 90, Philadelphia 76ers 79
- The Nets established their largest lead of the game to that point via an 8-0 run. The 76ers also took all of their key rotation players off the floor just minutes before. Sorry, I feel like I need to mention that.
11:51, 4Q – Brooklyn Nets 90, Philadelphia 76ers 79
- Ben Saraf and Terance Mann both played their first minutes of the evening here. Just in case this means something, it’s worth noting. Saraf connected on his first triple of the game from the right wing, but struggled to direct the offense afterward.
4:45 p.m., 4Q – Brooklyn Nets 107, Philadelphia 76ers 97
- It’s never too late, even in preseason, to make intense plays. Grant Nelson had several in the final five minutes of this one, particularly on the offensive glass. As Brooklyn’s offense began to falter over time, he kept them afloat, exploiting additional possessions. It was the least flashy “close-up” performance I’ve seen in a while, but it worked nonetheless, and that’s what matters.
- I know, it’s only preseason, but the 76ers started a roster tonight that will at worst be an NBA 2K team ever. The Nets faced them, without Porter Jr., Brown Jr. and Sharpe. In my opinion, many factors have to align for a preseason game to guarantee true optimism from the fans, but this one had them all. Don’t go crazy, but you have the right to like what you saw.
- Again, Egor’s development, especially where it occurs, is more than encouraging.
- On the contrary, things are not looking good for Ben Saraf. Not that it would have mattered much, but Brooklyn almost let this one slip away after giving him the keys to the offense. It’s hard to get around that when you consider the defenders he was facing at the time.
Getty Images
Brooklyn’s new-look teams’ preseason tour continues with a visit to the nation’s capital on Monday. The Nets will face the Washington Wizards at 7:00 p.m. EST.
Gn sports
