Brooklyn Nets lose to Washington Wizards 102-96 in fantastic, entertaining Summer League showdown

Now that’s more like it.

The Brooklyn Nets played their second game of Las Vegas Summer League on Sunday night at Thomas & Mack Arena. The team with five first-round picks (four healthy) got the main stage against the Washington Wizards, rostering plenty of intriguing young talent of their own.

The two teams delivered, putting up plenty of points, highlight plays, and a battle that went down to the wire. Calling it a Summer League Classic might be a stretch, but it was a fantastic game and a massive improvement on Brooklyn’s first showing.

It started with #8 overall pick Egor Dëmin hitting two threes in his first stint, and making a couple nice plays for others…

The Wizards even went under one of his pick-and-rolls, so Dëmin calmly splashed a 3-pointer moving to his right. It was the sort of play Nets fans, fans of a rebuilding team not one month into having exciting rookie talent, should read far too much into.

Especially with Dëmin feeling himself afterwards, facetiously asking his bench why Washington would dare go under…

Dëmin, aided by a friendly bounce in the second half, shot 4-of-10 from three, with no hesitation to let it fly. Now, those did account for all 12 of his points, and he struggled to break down any primary defenders, but Brooklyn’s offense was better with him on the court, and he finished with four assists to one turnover. It was a reasonably positive game for the eighth pick, showcasing strengths and weaknesses that should not surprise any Nets fan, but perhaps help them sleep easier on Sunday night.

The star of the show, once again, was Drew Timme. Tosan Evbuomwan was sidelined with a hip contusion, leaving Timme as the true veteran on Brooklyn’s squad, and he did not disappoint. Timme posted up with aplomb, and even turned in a poster dunk that got his NBA teammates — watching from the sideline — up and active…

“I’m not gonna lie, I did not know I made it. It’s not really what I’m known for, but I get up every now and then, and everyone was like, ‘Oh!’ and I was like, ‘did I make that?’” said Timme postgame.

The 24-year-old finished with 30 points on 13-of-24 shooting, many more attempts than some Nets fans may have wanted, but in a vacuum, his barrage of fakes and spins and floaters was a joy to watch. The Vegas crowd even gave Timme ‘M-V-P’ chants during his last trip to the line, as Tyson Etienne, Brooklyn’s newest two-way who shot 5-of-12 from deep, encouraged them.

“He’s an amazing player,” said Dëmin of his new teammate.” He’s just crazy. I feel like guys from the other team underestimate him and well, he does everything to prove them wrong. Right? … I just hear more stories now from, you know, some people who know him from Gonzaga being annoyingly good and right now, those two games, he’s annoyingly good.”

But the praise went both ways. Timme said of his rookie teammates: “It’s crazy to see their jump from game one to game two, and even throughout practices. You know, we’ve got a lot out of them, and that’s a lot to understand. I was just there a couple months ago myself when I got signed. So, you know, just seeing their growth and their maturity and being able to handle everything has been pretty special. And they’re all eager to learn, always asking questions. It’s just really good.”

Now that’s what fans want to hear. And though Nolan Traoré shot just 3-of-10 vs. the Wizards, coming off the bench to play 23 minutes, that line may undersell his flashes. Dealing with imposing sophomore Alex Sarr who recorded eight blocks for the Wizards, Traoré got into the paint consistently, dropped three assists, and converted this lovely finish too…

Ben Saraf played 21 minutes, posting a 7/2/6 line with four turnovers. But again, the numbers aren’t why we watch Summer League. His handle seemed to be the tightest of Brooklyn’s three point guards, he dished out some physicality on drives while reading the floor, and though his jumper is certainly a work in progress, the NBA sell isn’t too difficult to make.

For a brief stretch in the fourth quarter, all four first-round picks shared the court with Timme, including Danny Wolf. Wolf had a rough start to the game, turning it over three times in the first half, but fought back to stuff the stat sheet with 8/10/2/3/4. There are moments where he looks slow on defense, and while his Vegas showing has been far from perfect, he made Washington feel him in a thrilling second half, busting through this handoff and taking it the other way for a dunk…

Ultimately, Washington closed Brooklyn out in the game’s final possessions. Kyshawn George shot just 4-of-16, but made a big one late, and #6 overall pick Tre Johnson turned it on in the second half, going at Dëmin a few times to finish with 21 points of 7-of-11 shooting.

Summer League Head Coach Steve Hetzel was pleased after the game, despite the result: “I thought there was a lot of good in this game, in terms of clean-up from game one. One of our biggest issues was our lack of organization offensively, and we were so much more organized and we got more shot attempts out of it. So, 21 turnovers in game one, I think 16 in this, and seeing improvements there, I’m really, really happy with the effort.”

He should be. Despite Timme taking over for long stretches on Sunday night, this is the type of game Nets fans envisioned when the team selected five first-rounders on June 25. Those who were healthy played big minutes, trying to fill out the edges of their games by launching threes, competing on defense, and trying to get into the paint.

The crowd at Thomas & Mack Center rewarded them by creating a fun environment, with loud cheers every time the ball found the net. There were even a couple ‘Brooklyn’ chants.

Sometimes, rebuilding can be fun.

Final Score: Washington Wizards 102, Brooklyn Nets 96

Extras

• TJ Bamba made a 3-pointer in this one, but the Bronx native out of the University of Oregon is now 1-of-13 in Summer League. He’s generally been a rough watch.
• Brooklyn’s other UDFA signing, Grant Nelson started the game with strong take to the rim, but that was his only shot of the game, as he finished with 4/2/2 in a dozen minutes. He doesn’t always know where to be on defense, but to Steve Hetzel, that’s not the be-all, end-all. He just wants to see the “highest motor on the floor,” from Nelson, who feels like the current front-runner to snag Brooklyn’s last two-way spot.

Next Up

Photo by Candice Ward/NBAE via Getty Images

Brooklyn plays the first of a Vegas back-to-back against the New York Knicks on Tuesday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET.