Things didn’t go according to plan. Brooklyn his Nets thrashed New Orleans 130-108 to his Pelicans even though Kevin Durant scored his 32 points on just 21 shots in the season opener.
“The other day we talked about being tested and challenged,” Kyrie Irving said after the loss. “And this is going to be a familiar theme throughout the year. I don’t want to say ‘I should have done this, I should have done that’. For example, this is an adult league and the most physical team wins. “
Meanwhile, the Pelicans’ big three, CJ McCallum, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, stole the show, scoring a total of 74 points for a big win.
Brooklyn, on the other hand, scored just 17 points from Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving combined. Simmons was particularly disappointing, scoring more fouls (6) than points (4) in his Nets debut.
“Honestly, I was too excited,” Simmons said of the debut foul. “But just being there was great. Obviously we want to win the first game. But we know why we lost. We know it’s not our team, and I think there was a lot of anxiety early on, but I’m glad it didn’t get in the way.”
Outside the stars (or stars really), Brooklyn got some great stuff from Patty Mills off the bench, dropping 16 points on 5/10 and 4/9 shooting. The rest of Brooklyn’s bench was less prolific, scoring just seven points in total.
The rebound came Wednesday’s Achilles heel in Brooklyn, as the Pelicans beat the Nets 61-39. Many of these second-chance opportunities led to his 3-pointer for New Orleans, where from the deep he shot 46.2%. Brooklyn, on the other hand, just couldn’t find consistency from long distance, where he scored 30.3%. The Pelicans took advantage of this, densely painting the paint and choking Brooklyn’s lead with multiple defenders to his creator.
“We’re not the biggest team. We’re not going to lead the league in rebounding,” Steve Nash said after the game. “But there’s still some understanding that that’s our weakness.” we talked about it every day we have to come back and double team on the glass and let it overflow it’s about being competitive and showing our weaknesses It’s part of recognizing, understanding, and trying to fight them from the start.”
In typical Nets fashion, the onslaught got off to a slow start as the Nets missed their first three shots. Ben Simmons broke a scoring drought with his first Nets points of the season after a Pelicans turnover, while Zion at the rim and his Williamson pair of buckets rallied after an early 11-2 deficit. Steve forced his time out early from his Nash.
“Obviously I can understand how physical it is and how difficult it is to be away from the rim and the offensive grass. So he seems healthy and playing very well again,” Nash said. said about Zion after the game.
After three consecutive turnovers from the Nets, the lead extended — one by Kevin Durant dribbling into the crowd, one by Ben Simmons on a botched alley-oop, and another by Royce O’Neill to charge extended New Orleans’ lead to 16. .
Then three consecutive stolen bases by Royce O’Neill cut that deficit to just 12, forcing Perrys to call timeouts. Brooklyn’s wheels fell off as the Pelicans once again extended their advantage to his 18 to close out the first quarter.
Brooklyn got on track going into the second quarter starting with a good pass from Ben Simmons to Nick Claxton on a short roll and Markieff Morris corner three. However, the Pelicans continued to stack it up, with his two scorers in Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum short jumpers in his midrange. The Nets, on the other hand, were unable to find their rhythm as space limited half-court opportunities.
Luckily, Nick Claxton, the only antidote to the unstoppable force that is Zion Williamson, uses his impressive 7’2″ wingspan to pin Zion’s layup to the grass. The Nets ended the quarter strong when they led off Kevin Durant’s 3 on the other side. Behind Durant’s ridiculous shotmaking, the Nets were able to cut the half down to his 21 and finish the half at 58-50.
Oh, and KD did this…
Both teams went back and forth to start the third quarter. Kevin Durant hit a jumper that fouled Williamson in one end, and CJ McCollum hit a three-point jumper as the Nets double-teamed Jonas Valanciunas.
Zion then took over and dropped two crushing layups. The Pelicans’ lead only expanded when Trey his Murphy III hit a deep three and Brandon Ingram scored a fadeaway and a foul on Kevin Durant. after that 3 more offensive rebounds. Suddenly, the Nets saw his 25-point deficit and he had four minutes to spare in the third round. The Nets he finished the quarter at 98-78.
The same goes for the 4th quarter, when the Nets finally waived the white flag at the 4:30 mark. And that was all she wrote. A 22-point blowout and a 0-1 start to the season against tough opponents, the Toronto Raptors, who headed to Brooklyn on Friday.
Nets not worried about Simmons’ slow start
Ben Simmons’ debut didn’t go off the right track, but his teammates and head coach didn’t seem particularly concerned about the star’s jack-of-all-trades.
Steve Nash attributed the 4-point show to “rust”, citing Simmons’ 486-day layoff from regulation basketball.
“I think he’s rusty. He hasn’t played in over a year, but he’s still getting used to refereeing, defense, and offense. It’s a process,” Nash explained. “You’ve all heard me say that, and he’s clearly giving us a glimpse of a player we know and could be, but it’s not easy. I’m here to support him, to push him up, to coach him and try to get him to a place where he can play at the level he played in the past.It’s all there for him.
“I mean, I think we’re going to see those glimpses throughout preseason, but now we’re putting it together and really putting our feet under him and getting into the rhythm and assimilating into a new group. On his plate. It doesn’t matter if he makes mistakes as he grows, as long as he builds confidence, plays hard and keeps playing hard.”
Kyrie Irving, on the other hand, was equally encouraging, though he also offered a more brusque tone. He said that he set a standard for
“He has to rack up reps and minutes. I think it’s as simple as that,” Kyrie Irving said of what Simmons needed. “We told him in the locker room, he said we He’s a valuable piece and we need him, and fouling out is not an option.”
Kevin Durant’s reaction to Ben Simmons’ debut can best be described in one way.
“We don’t all have great games.
film room
So, obviously, Kevin Durant was the star of the show here.
But Nick Claxton showed a flash like you’ve never seen before. First of all, as mentioned earlier, he was the only player who could reasonably entangle with Zion Williamson. Anyone?), has quite a bit of length to close out the window of opportunity for the Pelicans star.
Nick’s block to Zion was the catalyst to a mini-run to end the first half, and how Crux first stole a right-handed layup from Zion before sliding to Zion’s left to sit on a spin move. You will notice
Nick’s contact finish is also showing significant improvement, which reflects the size he added this summer. It helped me when I powered up the finish on this rim. Also a hunk of dimes from Kam Thomas who continues to show modest growth as a playmaker after some impressive moments in preseason!
And the main course: Crux’s stunning drive and finish on contact. We’ve heard of Claxton’s point guarding background since his rookie season, and he flashed that skillset in the second quarter. He drove to the Cup when he shifted for a second, then another fine finish by contact to complete the play.
13 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, and one stolen base on a near-perfect shooting (6/7) is how the Nets followed up on a lucrative summer that invested $20 million in him to become a future center.
what’s next
The Nets, who host the troublesome Toronto Raptors, can stay home for the second game of the regular season. Tip-off begins at 7:30 PM ET and you can watch the game on the YES Network.
For another point of view, raptors headquartersthe sister site of the Toronto Raptors.
