Nets test mettle vs. defending NBA champs

Brooklyn opens three-game trip in Boston Friday

November 7, 2024 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Dennis Schroder and the Brooklyn Nets will try to keep up with reigning MVP Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics Friday night. AP Photo by Peter K. Afriyie

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The Nets .500 start through eight games has raised hopes that this might not be a “rebuilding” season, as it has often been called due to Brooklyn’s young, superstar-bereft roster.

The team’s upcoming three-game road trip may shed further light on whether the Nets will seriously contend with the best of the Eastern Conference, beginning with Friday night’s visit to the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

Through the first two weeks of the campaign, the Nets (4-4) have shown a great resilience in competing despite a short-handed roster due to injury as key reserves Day’Ron Sharpe and Trendon Watford are yet to log a single minute on the hardwood due to injury.

Also, first-year coach Jordi Fernandez has given enigmatic point guard Ben Simmons a couple of games off when the team plays on consecutive nights. The back-management breaks are deemed necessary after the 6-foot-10 Simmons missed 67 games last year.

Though Watford is due to return “soon”, according to Fernandez, Sharpe won’t be in the rotation until the end of the month.

None of it has stopped Brooklyn from remaining in the hunt thus far as the Nets entered Wednesday tied with Indiana for the third best record in the East.

Now, the Nets will take on the two teams above them.

After Friday’s showdown with the Celtics (7-2), Brooklyn will visit unbeaten Cleveland (9-0) on Saturday. The trip will end Monday night in New Orleans (3-6) before the Nets come back to Downtown Brooklyn to host the Celtics again on Wednesday.

So how has Fernandez’s squad remained relevant thus far?

Most of the credit has to go to the Nets’ frenetic pacing, tenacious work on the defensive end and the dedicated resolve of veteran players like Dennis Schroder, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, Nic Claxton and Dorian Finney-Smith.

Jordi Fernandez’s rookie season as Nets coach is off to a solid 4-4 start. But now the Nets will embark on a challenging three-game trip that includes Eastern Conference powers Boston and Cleveland. AP Photo by Jason DeCrow

General manager Sean Marks’ offseason deal to bring in former Memphis forward Ziaire Williams has also paid instant dividends as the 6-foot-9 reserve forward is averaging a career-best 9.3 points per game.

While Claxton and Thomas are likely a part of the Nets’ future, Schroder Johnson and Finney-Smith could be dealt at some point this year, especially if the Nets drop out of contention and Marks sees an opportunity to grab future draft picks along with developable talent.

But don’t tell that to Finney-Smith, who has been all in for Brooklyn since arriving here in the 2023 deadline deal that sent Kyrie Irving to Dallas.

“I wanna win, so whatever I (have to) do to win, I’m gonna do it,” he said after hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer in Monday night’s 106-104 triumph over Memphis at Barclays, the Nets’ third win in four games.

Schroder, dubbed “the head of the snake” by Finney-Smith, is putting up career bests of 19.9 points and 7.3 assists to begin his first full season with the Nets.

“At the end of the day, this is his job for the team, his leadership and then, deliver,” said Fernandez of

Schroder, who starred at the 2024 Paris Olympics for Team Germany last summer.

“I’ve seen it already. I’ve seen it in the international world and I’ve seen it in the NBA. So, I’m not surprised.”

Schroder returned the compliment by citing his relish for Fernandez’s aggressive defensive style.

“Luckily, we got a coach who loves that 94 feet pressure,” he noted. “And everybody’s buying into it.”

The world champs might not, however.

Coming off Wednesday’s 116-112 home loss to Golden State, the Celtics should be eager to recover from just their second defeat of the year, and first in front of the home faithful.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Jayson Tatum poured in 32 points and Derrick White added 16 for Boston, which lost to the Warriors despite the absence of future Hall of Fame sharp-shooter Steph Curry.

The Celtics were without shooting guard Jaylen Brown, who sat out with a hip injury.

The Nets are hoping they get second-year forward Noah Clowney back against Boston after he missed Monday’s game with a hip issue of his own.

Fernandez indicated that an MRI revealed no structural damage and hinted that Clowney would be back in the mix Friday in Beantown.

“I think it’s gonna be soon,” said the rookie coach.

Clowney’s absence, coupled with Brooklyn’s lack of size along the interior due to injury, resulted in a whopping 66 paint points for the Grizzlies Monday.

But the Nets, as they have been doing during this early season stretch, found a way to gut out a win.

That may be harder to do over the weekend.

But according to Schroder, Brooklyn is more into climbing the standings than rebuilding this year.

“Everybody wants to make the playoffs,” he said.

Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson is coming off back-to-back 20-plus point performances as the Nets visit Boston Friday night. AP Photo by Jason DeCrow

NOTHING BUT NET: The Nets lost all four meetings to the Celtics last season, including a 136-86 blowout in Boston last Valentine’s Day that signaled the end of the Jacque Vaughn era in Brooklyn. The loss was the second-worst in franchise history. The New Jersey Nets lost by 52 points in Houston in 1978. … After pacing the Nets in scoring in each of their first three contests, Thomas has only done so once since as Johnson and Schroder have taken the lead scoring role twice apiece. … Finney-Smith is averaging a team-best 1.5 steals per game.