For the Brooklyn Nets, the 2024–2025 season is admittedly about rebuilding, which includes four first-round picks in next year’s draft, while developing talent and leaders with a core composed of many young players. As a result, the team has played more than respectable basketball, competitively challenging some of the league’s best teams.
While their 5-9 record going into Tuesday night’s game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn versus the Charlotte Hornets didn’t reflect the results of a playoff contender, fans and followers of the team have been impressed by the Nets’ hard playing style and growth under first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez. Before Tuesday’s game, only one of the Nets’ nine losses (two of which were in overtime) — last week’s 139-114 loss to the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics at home — was by more than 16 points. Six of the team’s nine losses were by 10 or fewer points. While that is a small sample size, Fernandez has motivated his team to play with intensity for the remaining games.
They showed their resolve in back-to-back games against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden this past Friday and Sunday. After guard Cam Thomas torched the New York Knicks for 43 points on Friday — a record for a Nets player at the arena, although the effort came in a 124-122 loss, it was another signal to the league they are not an easy opponent. “They kept blitzing Cam Thomas. I thought he did a good job of getting rid of the ball and then we found good shots,” Fernandez said. “We just were not able to get stops. Basically, that was the main reason, because if you get a few stops, then we can start running, and … that is how you make runs.
“I think that was the big difference maker right there. We could not defend enough in this game to get the win. We kept fighting … until the end and that is what we want to do with no excuses, supporting each other moving forward.” The Nets’ lack of size is evident and problematic. Center Nic Claxton, who missed his fifth game on Tuesday, is sidelined by a lower back strain and received an epidural injection last week. Reserve center Day’Ron Sharpe has not played this season due to a strained left hamstring. The Nets embark on a four-game road trip starting tomorrow in Philadelphia against the 76ers, then head out west on Sunday to meet up with the Sacramento Kings, before going against the Golden State Warriors on Monday and ending the stretch on Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns.
