The Nets tank rolled on, keeping pace for the worst record in the league. And the best spot in the lottery.
But even as the rebuilding Nets fell 119-109 to Toronto before a crowd of 17,233 at Barclays Center, coach Jordi Fernández insisted that the rebuild isn’t just about pingpong balls and lottery odds but developing the right habits.
That means developing a record rookie crop led by Egor Dëmin, not just waiting around for next year’s picks.
“Yeah, I think people usually misunderstand what you call rebuilding. For us, it’s building winning habits; and winning starts now,” Fernández said before his Nets went out and suffered another loss. “We know inside what it means; and being competitive is very important. You cannot go out there and not compete and not give yourself a chance. Seeing these guys’ development is important.
“I believe in the proper steps, and right now we have or we understand what wins are for us. And obviously winning games is part of NBA basketball. We’re here to go out there and try to win every game.”
The Nets (1-10) have only won once, and are far closer to having lost every game. They stayed tied with the woebegone Wizards for the top spot in the lottery standings, and ½-game clear of the Pacers.
But Fernández couldn’t fault his talent-poor team’s effort.
With scorer Cam Thomas out again with a hurt hamstring, Nic Claxton and Michael Porter Jr. shared team-high honors with 21 points each. Claxton and Noah Clowney each added eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals, but Dëmin may have been the most encouraging sign of the night.
He had a career-high 16 points — the most by a Nets rookie since Drew Timme’s 19-point effort last season — to go with five assists, four boards, a steal and a block. With Thomas sidelined, the lithe teen has gotten on the ball more in the pick-and-roll and looked progressively more confident, going for a pair of strong drives to the basket in the third quarter.
“He’s done a good job. Solid with handling the ball, getting into the paint,” Fernández said. “I know some people around here were asking me questions about 2s, and now you guys have seen it. So, you have seen now he can pass the ball, he can get into the paint, he can shoot the 3s. So, all those things we want to keep seeing, and there’s not a better way to do it with him than more minutes.”
The Nets allowed 13 unanswered points in a run that spanned the first and second quarters.
And another 14-5 Raptors run left Brooklyn chasing the game the rest of the night.
The Nets fell behind by two touchdowns in the third. Brandon Ingram had a team-high 25 points for Toronto, and his free throw made it 70-56 with 9:23 left in the period.
It was still 76-66 after a layup by Immanuel Quickley (24 points, eight rebounds, five assists) when the Nets responded with a 9-3 run, Claxton’s foul shot pulling them within four.
And Clowney’s free throw made it 81-79 with 1:27 left in the third. But Brooklyn never managed to get over the hump in the fourth.
The Nets actually defended well by their sievelike standards, holding Toronto to 9-of-35 from deep. But they got hammered 50-36 on the glass and outscored 68-36 in the paint.
Their aggressive ball pressure and blitzing pick-and-rolls has been ripped apart by foes, but Fernández insists the Nets aren’t about to dump the system.
“There’s no negotiables here. Ball pressure and being aggressive in pick-and-roll [are a must],” Fernández said. “You look at the top defenses like OKC — and all those teams are able to execute multiple coverages — but for the most part they’re at the level and they pressure the ball. So if you don’t want to do that, you probably are not going to be able to play for the Nets, because we’re going to be aggressive.
“And as we grow, we’ll be able to execute multiple coverages. Right now, with our stage, we’re going to stay with the basics. But there’s no excuses for not protecting the rim. All of the schemes that I’ve mentioned … you can be able to be aggressive and also protect the rim.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
