The Nets didn’t look anything like a tanking team in Sunday’s 127-82 win over Milwaukee, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The 45-point margin tied the record for the largest victory in franchise history, and it provided the first career win for assistant Steve Hetzel, who was filling in because head coach Jordi Fernandez was ill.
“Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Just watching how well we played as a team. Normally, (Michael Porter Jr.) has been carrying us offensively, and then you see how spread out the points are. … I don’t think anybody that stepped on the court played poorly,” Hetzel said. “It was a great feeling.”
It was the fourth win in six games for Brooklyn, which has recovered from an 0-7 start to move to within three games of a play-in spot. Four of the team’s five first-round picks played significant roles in the game, and Milwaukee was held scoreless for the final 7:04.
“You hold any team to no points for six minutes, that’s elite,” Noah Clowney said. “This is the NBA. You don’t do that often to anybody. … That’s probably the best form of hoops when everybody eats and everybody’s playing well, everybody’s making shots. It’s just a good camaraderie.”
- Rookies Egor Demin and Drake Powell both responded with quality performances after being criticized by Fernandez following Friday’s loss to Dallas, Lewis states in a separate story. Demin had 17 points in 25 minutes, while Powell came off the bench for 13 points in 23 minutes. “He challenged Egor, he challenged Drake, and they both responded beautifully, with an edge,” Hetzel said. “It’s another step in their progression. They took a big step in having a bad game and then responding. And that’s what the NBA’s all about. You play 82 of them. You got to be quick to forget about the last one, move on and play better, which they both did.”
- Porter has tended to carry the scoring load in his first season with Brooklyn, but Fernandez is concerned that isn’t the best approach for his young team, Lewis adds in another piece. The veteran forward had 34 points on Friday, but the Nets’ other players couldn’t respond when Dallas started sending multiple defenders at him in the fourth quarter. “We kept looking at Mike instead of using him and others taking or making the shot,” Fernandez said. “You can control if you take a good shot, you cannot control if it goes in.”
- Hetzel serves as the Brooklyn’s Summer League coach, so he has extensive experience dealing with the team’s rookies, per C.J. Holmes of The New York Daily News (subscription required). Before Sunday’s game, he offered his thoughts on each of them and the progress they’ve made since the draft.