The Nets played without Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, D’Angelo Russell and others in Monday’s 113-99 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center. Few shot-creators. Fewer household names.
Brooklyn started Keon Johnson, Tyrese Martin, Ziaire Williams, Noah Clowney and Nic Claxton. And as you’d probably expect, Brooklyn found itself down 16 points at halftime and was shooting just 34.8% from the field and 31.6% from 3-point range with eight turnovers. Indiana had three players in double figures in the first half while the Nets, paced by Williams and Martin, had none.
However, sometimes the scariest opponents are a group of guys with something to prove and nothing to lose. These Nets kept chipping away.
Head coach Jordi Fernandez is always preaching about “Brooklyn Grit”, and it was on full display in the third quarter, as the Nets limited a healthy Indiana team to 31.8% shooting (2-for-11 from deep), converted on 52% of their attempts, dominated the glass and closed period on a 12-0 run to cut their deficit to eight entering the final frame.
Clowney scored nine of his 14 points in a third-quarter run where he went 2-for-2 from deep. Fernandez played nine guys in the period, and all but Williams and Day’Ron Sharpe got a bucket. The Pacers led by 24 points two minutes into the second half, so Brooklyn deserves some credit for fighting back.
“I was very, very proud of them and the way they played all the way through,” Fernandez said. “Just kept fighting until the end.”
But it wasn’t enough. Indiana woke up and won the fourth quarter 35-29 to earn its 19th win of the season. The Nets’ willingness to scrap and do the little things is what kept the game close for a while. They outrebounded the Pacers 51-35 and had a 33-8 edge in second chance points, courtesy of 20 offensive rebounds.
Sharpe set a new season high with 13 total rebounds, nine of which were on the offensive glass.
“You better box me out,” Sharpe said. “You 7-4, you 7-5”, it doesn’t matter, you better box me out. I feel like I can do it against anybody, no matter how much you weigh or how tall you are.”
Brookyln just ran out of firepower in the end. Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 23 and 20 points, respectively, and Pascal Siakam added 19 points. Sharpe was the Nets’ leading scorer with 16 points off the bench in a 41.8% team shooting effort, and that should tell you everything you need to know about how effective their offense was Monday night.
Brooklyn also turned it over 14 times, which gifted the Pacers 23 points. It failed to score 100 points for a second straight game, falling to 13-23 this season 0-2 in its current homestand.
Dariq Whitehead, who was called up from the G League after Brooklyn’s latest slew of injuries, played just three minutes in garbage time and knocked down a 3-pointer.
The Nets will return to action on Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons at Barclays Center.