Wounded Nets shock Warriors

Brooklyn stages epic comeback win at Golden State

November 26, 2024 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Nets point guard Dennis Schroder spearheaded an improbable comeback in Golden State Monday night. AP Photo by Jed Jacobsohn

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The best win of the Jordi Fernández era was also the most improbable.

Severely shorthanded before tip-off, the Brooklyn Nets’ rookie coach watched two starters go down before the end of the third quarter with his team down 18 points to the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors.

Then, Brooklyn’s Magnificent Seven refused to lose.

Dennis Schroder scored 17 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter as the Nets staged an epic comeback to run past Steph Curry and the Warriors, 128-120, in front of 18,064 stunned fans at the Chase Center.

“This team right here, Golden State Warriors, they are the best in the west. They are a hell of a team,” said Schroder, who finished 10-of-18 from the field, 4-of-8 from 3-point range and 7-of-7 at the free-throw line.

“But it shows our character, it shows everybody being ready and everybody working every single day,” he added.

Fresh off Sunday night’s rousing 108-103 triumph in Sacramento, Brooklyn (8-10) was without Nic Claxton (back), Noah Clowney (ankle), Ben Simmons (back management) and Dorian Finney-Smith (ankle).

Cam Johnson never returned from halftime due to an ankle injury and leading scorer Cam Thomas left midway through the third quarter with fatigue issues after putting up 34 points and handing out eight assists in Sacramento.

That should have been enough absences for the Nets to throw in the towel when the Warriors (12-5) went up 84-68 with 7:13 remaining in the third period.

But they didn’t.

Brooklyn miraculously played better thereafter, outscoring Golden State 60-32 behind the heroic efforts of Schroder, Ziaire Williams, Jalen Wilson, Shake Milton, Trendon Watford, Keon Johnson and Tyrese Martin.

“I think all seven guys that finished toward the end … Jalen Wilson, Ziaire, Dennis, Shake and T-Wat and Keon and Tyrese. That group was amazing,” gushed Fernández.

“You go down the line at what this group did and it was amazing.”

Rookie coach Jordi Fernández implored his shorthanded team to fight to the finish against the Western Conference-leading Warriors. AP Photo by Jed Jacobsohn

The Nets used a 27-6 burst spanning the third and fourth quarters to draw even at 92-92 before Schroder took the lead role down the stretch.

And he caught an earful from Fernández before he did it.

“He drew up a play before and I messed it up,” confessed Schroder, who sat out Sunday with an ankle injury of his own.

“He (took another) time out and yelled at me and said, ‘You got to be better!’ And I think everybody had the energy after that.”

After knotting the contest on a 28-footer with 11:10 left to play, Schroder added another 3-pointer to put Brooklyn ahead to stay.

His three-point play with 3:12 on the clock gave the Nets a 112-106 cushion before he fed Williams for a dunk and hit an 11-footer to make it a nine-point lead.

Schroder assisted on Watford’s 3-ball that buried the Warriors for good, stretching the advantage to 124-115 with just over a minute to go.

“He took control of the game,” Fernández said of Schroder. “And took control of the lead, put everybody in the right place.

“It’s like having a coach on the floor. I just let him do his thing. His performance overall in that second half was like … true leader.”

Thomas wound up with 23 points in as many minutes, but was relegated to watching in awe from the bench as Brooklyn ended Golden State’s five-game home winning streak.

Fernández, who relished beating his mentor, Kings coach Mike Brown, in Sacramento 24 hours earlier, couldn’t have anticipated that he’d enjoy an even sweeter win in San Francisco.

“(I told them), ‘Continue to fight and control the mistakes that you can control.'” he revealed.

Williams piled up 19 points and 10 rebounds, Wilson had 18 points and seven boards and Milton added 13 points for Brooklyn, which has won its first four west coast games for the first time in franchise history.

Curry made eight 3-pointers en route to 28 points and Andrew Wiggins added 18 for the Warriors, who have dropped consecutive games for the first time this year.

That hardly seemed like a possibility. Until the Magnificent Seven caught fire.

Behind their fearless leaders, on the floor and the bench.

“Everybody was locked in. We ended up playing the right way,” Schroder noted.

“If you look at the second half, down 18, we won the third quarter and the fourth shorthanded,” added Fernández. “I want to believe preparation is a big part of it.”

Trendon Watford and Jalen Wilson were part of shorthanded Brooklyn’s Magnificent Seven comeback in Golden State. AP Photo by Jed Jacobsohn

NOTHING BUT NET: Brooklyn will conclude its four-game road trip on Thanksgiving Eve in Phoenix. Former Net Kevin Durant, who has been out for two weeks with a strained left calf, is expected to rejoin the Suns for Tuesday night’s NBA Cup game vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. … Williams, who drew heavy contact from Golden State intimidator Draymond Green throughout Monday’s win, finished 6-of-11 from the field, handed out four assists and picked up a pair of steals to go with his double-double. “In my opinion, I knew he had an amazing performance, I think it was against Memphis, but this was his best performance of the year,” Fernández said of Williams. … The Nets will be back in Brooklyn on Friday for their NBA Cup group-stage finale vs. Orlando. It will be the opener of a two-game set with the visiting Magic, who will also be at Barclays on Sunday afternoon.