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The Nets had been humiliated at home by this Pacers team a week ago. In Sunday’s rematch, they finally got their first win of the season. They scratched, clawed and defended their way to a 98-90 victory over shorthanded Indiana before a sellout crowd of 17,274 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Michael Porter Jr. led the way with a team-high 23 points to go with nine rebounds. Julius Randle had 20 points, six assists and five boards to go with a plus-17. Center Day’Ron Sharpe tallied his 20th career double-double with season highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Julius Randle admits it’s on the veterans like himself and Michael Porter Jr. to help guide this young team through its growing pains. But how? “That’s a great question. I don’t know. We’ve just got to find ways to keep making improvements,” Randle said. “We did that, [though] we didn’t get the result we wanted in Boston, we did it. I felt like we were on the path to doing that to start the [Detroit] game, and then we took steps back. So, I won’t accept it, but I understand it. “Taking bumps and bruises with the season, just gaining experience. But we’ve got to find a way collectively to be better and not let adversity affect us so much as a group. We keep talking about it, but we gotta find a way to come together. And yeah, it probably is on the vets. We gotta bring guys together in the moments of adversity and recognize those situations quicker than what we are right now.”
“Our offense is not … we’re not generating the looks we want. Part of it is every night is a new lineup’s playing together. Chemistry is a real thing,” Michael Porter Jr. said. “So lineups can have something to do with it. Egor is out, we put Chaney in there. That’s a group that hasn’t played together. So sometimes when it comes to the positions we’re playing on the floor, it might be confusing for some guys. “Chaney normally plays the four when we run plays, but he might be playing the two with this group. For us, we need to know different positions in the playbook. So some of that’s on the players, just so that when we’re put in the game in different positions, we can execute regardless of where we are. So I think that was part of it, guys were not knowing where they’re supposed to be on certain plays.”
The Nets came up just short of beating the Celtics in Boston in their last game, but the end result is they fell to 0-4. For a team that’s trying to change the direction of a franchise that knows tanking all too well — and lost its first seven games a year ago — they know the results have to change. And they believe they’re close. “We haven’t won yet, so obviously we want to get the zero out of that column and get a one right there,’’ Michael Porter Jr. said after practice in Brooklyn on Thursday. “It’s important. That’s why that loss the other day hurt. We felt we were in a position to win the game, but if we play like that and can continue to improve, then we’ll get there.”
As Bobby notes, Oklahoma City's financial situation will make it difficult to trade for another high-salary contributor. The only Thunder players making more than $7.8 million this season are effectively untradeable: Williams, Gilgeous-Alexander, Caruso, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. Barring a shocking trade of one of those players -- a swap involving Williams is perhaps feasible in a vacuum if the Thunder want to maximize their championship chances this season, but it seems inconceivable in context -- the Thunder won't be able to match the salaries of potential targets such as Trey Murphy III (New Orleans) or Michael Porter Jr. (Brooklyn). Nor will they be able to replace Williams' rare combination of offense, defense and size.
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Cavaliers defeat Nets 125-121 behind 22 points from Donovan Mitchell, 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists from Evan Mobley. Michael Porter Jr. had 28 points, nine rebounds and four steals for Brooklyn, while Julius Randle had 23 points and Egor Demin had 22 points and six assists.
CJ Holmes: Michael Porter Jr. offered some serious praise for Mikel Brown Jr. today. “There's been practices where he's completely dominated” Porter believes Brown has the tools to become elite on both ends of the floor, adding: “So, there's not a lot of weakness in his game.” Quite an endorsement.
During an appearance on Michael Porter Jr.'s Curious Mike podcast, Enes Kanter Freedom spoke about the incident while discussing the personal consequences of his activism. He said that he eventually got reduced coverage, which offers an example of what he faces beyond the criticism and mockery on social media. "I tried to get a life insurance around two years ago, and the company said, 'We cannot give you the full coverage because you have a very high percent chance of getting killed.' So I had to get like a half coverage… people out there, people criticize me all the time. Every single day there's somebody out there criticizing me." "When people think that I do what I do for attention, I'm like, 'You guys have no idea what I actually go through.'"
Although he might also become one of the most exciting stories to watch mid-season as he could emerge as one of the most sought-after trade candidates this season. "I would just say that one player to watch this year just in general is Michael Porter Jr.," NBA insider Brian Windhorst reported on The Hoop Collective podcast. "There's been a lot of attention paid to whether Karl-Anthony Towns got a contract extension which naturally why wouldn't there be, the man's a champion. Porter has not gotten a contract extension, he's in the last year of his contract and he had a pretty good year last year after getting traded there by Denver and you know if a guy's not in the contract extension you think about you see a possible trade candidate."
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The Nets just finished a 3-1 preseason that was encouraging, but had some warning signs and red flags. And most were on the defensive end of the floor. Brooklyn spent the summer bolstering their attack and scored their way to three preseason wins. But sieve-like defense is a worry that could undercut any hope of a surprise season. “Yeah, that’ll be the most important thing. Offensively we’ll be able to score with the best of them,” Michael Porter Jr. said. “I think offensively is not a problem. [But] if we want to be good, then defensively we’ll have to lock in.”
Rookie Mikel Brown Jr.’s preseason debut left the Nets impressed. But his minutes restriction is likely to leave him coming off the bench. For now. Brown had 15 points, three assists and two steals in Miami, with Michael Porter Jr. dubbing him a “stud.” But the lottery pick was limited to 18 minutes after missing the first three preseason games with a rolled left ankle. Brown will still be on a minutes restriction for Wednesday’s season opener against visiting Charlotte. “Our No. 1 priority is his health and build him the right way,” said coach Jordi Fernández. “So obviously I lean on medical and performance to guide us on how to do it. And then all the combinations and so forth obviously is up to me.”
Michael Porter Jr. on the impact of NIL on college basketball: "If I was getting paid millions of dollars, yeah, I would have stayed in college for sure. I would have kicked it with the fam and took my time, definitely. I don't need to have $10 million in college, though, honestly. I didn't I didn't need that. I don't know what I would have done with millions of dollars in college. It was a blessing in disguise. We didn't have I don't know, I mean, I I don't I don't think we were the people to have have that money in college and be locked in, so I think also, too, you know, you're seeing guys stay a little bit longer in college because maybe they're not lottery in in you all situations or on the cusp of lottery, but, you know, who fall into that maybe that 20 to 40 range, go back to school."
