On paper, the Brooklyn Nets should be better this season than they were in their last campaign, when they finished 20-62, 13th in the Eastern Conference among the 15 teams. They acquired two-time All-NBA selection Julius Randle, who began his professional career in 2014 as a teammate of Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers (Randle broke his right tibia in the opening game and was out for the remainder of his rookie season) and played crosstown from the Nets for the New York Knicks from 2019-2024.
Forward Michael Porter Jr., the team’s leading scorer a season ago is back, as are talented second-year player guards Nolan Traoré and Egor Dëmin. They added Mikel Brown Jr. from Louisville with the No. 6 overall pick in June’s draft and the highly skilled 20-year-old guard has played his way into the Nets rotation.
But the Eastern Conference is also improved, with four-time NBA champion LeBron James signing with the Philadelphia 76ers, two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard joining the Toronto Raptors, NBA champion Anthony Davis — who was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Washington Wizards but didn’t suit up recovering from ligament damage in his hand — and the return of Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers after he missed all of last season rehabbing a torn Achilles.
Consequently, there are no easy nights. After losing the first two games of this season to the Charlotte Hornets in Brooklyn (103-110) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (121-125) on the road by a combined 11 points, the Nets were embarrassed in Indiana by the Pacers, 136-109 on Sunday at Barclays Center.
Nets third-year head coach Jordi Fernandez vowed that the team would be better after the poor performance against the Pacers, and they were Tuesday night in Boston facing the Celtics. Still, they did not come away with a win. Brooklyn lost a heartbreaker to the Celtics as six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum nailed a buzzer-beating jumper from 15 feet to hand Brooklyn a 125-124 loss — their fourth-straight loss to open the season. Tatum had a game-high 40 points while Brown Jr. of the Nets exploded for 13 points in the fourth quarter, ending with 17 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds in 28 minutes — all career highs.
Porter Jr. topped the Nets with 27 and Randle had 24. As expected, in four games, Porter Jr. and Randle lead the team in scoring, averaging 22.8 and 22.5 points per game, respectively.
“At the end of the day, what I take out of this game is the competitiveness, playing the right way,” Fernandez said after the defeat. “We look like a good team out there.”
Assessing Brown Jr., Fernandez sees great promise for the youngster. “You just started to see him being more comfortable, the way he was moving and dribbling with the ball and getting to his spots; and his comfortable shots that he can definitely make and he touches the paint, he can explode to the rim … His impact was good, so I’m happy for him. Dëmin left the game late in the second quarter due to a right leg contusion and did not return.
The Nets host the Detroit Pistons on Friday, then travel to Indiana on Sunday to take on the Pacers. On Monday Nov. 2, they will play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden and then face the Hornets Wednesday Nov. 4 at Barclays Center.
