Brooklyn Nets can’t get past Cleveland Cavaliers, lose 106-102

Kenny Atkinson promised pregame that the Brooklyn Nets would one day “break through.”

“You’re just waiting for that, like ‘When is that gonna happen?’ And you look at it like, ‘Man, is it ever going to happen?’ I’m sure Jordi is going, ‘Man, everyone is saying it’ll happen,’” he said in answer to our Lucas Kaplan’s question. “They play so hard. It’s eventually going to happen with the talent…They got really good coaching, good coaching staff, good front office, it’ll break through.”

Sure, it’s easy to say that when you’re at the helm of a 37-win team, but Atkinson knows what he’s talking about. A billion years ago when he was at the helm for Brooklyn, the Nets lost 62 and then 54 games during his first two seasons. Then, in his third year, they snatched the sixth seed in the East with a 42-40 record.

“That third year when we broke through and made the playoffs, it was almost doubly rewarding, because you went through these real struggles and tough times,” he went on. “Man, I’ll never forget when we clinched the playoffs, it was like you’re winning the championship.”

Atkinson’s words should provide some comfort for Nets fans. It’s been a rocky, uncompetitive season, but it hasn’t been a waste.

However, today’s game was another reminder of how far they still need to go to get that “championship” feeling…and get in the same stratosphere of an fighting for an actual one.

The Nets started this one with their usual group but with Terance Mann in for the resting Egor Dëmin and Day’Ron Sharpe in for Nic Claxton. Clax sat this one out with a right thumb sprain.

Brooklyn also went up against the Cavs without their top rim defender a little under two weeks ago, surrendering 58 paint points in the process. The repeat formula rendered and a similar result, at least early on. The Cavs went ahead on the scoreboard quickly with 10 points inside less than five minutes into the game. Brooklyn exes James Harden and Jarrett Allen collectively picked on the Nets again, combining for 12 first period points while shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 from deep.

However, the Cavs weren’t the only ones to benefit from Claxton’s absence. After a slow first few minutes of play from both teams, Grant Nelson and Danny Wolf came in looking to disrupt the contest in more ways than one.

Seeing the chemistry and effective play of this unexpected paring was anything but for Jordi Fernández.

“Yeah, I mean, you already can see the chemistry between Ben [Saraf] and Grant, and even Grant and Danny,” Fernández said. “They played summer league together. He’s been part of the club, you know, the extension of our coaching staff in Long Island, working with them. He’s familiar with what we’re doing, and he’s just a very good basketball player, high IQ, he’s got a great feel for the game, and plays extremely hard. So, you put all those things together, and you know he’s played very well in the two chances.”

In five minutes of first period burn, Nelson and Wolf were +6 and combined for 14 points, two steals, and two assists…

In what was his second career game, Nelson finished with 11 points, four rebounds, three blocks, a steal, and an assist in 20 minutes. Nelson, 23, had been on a minutes restriction in Long Island for the last 16 games he played there. Nelson had missed seven weeks earlier as the Nets performance team treated knee soreness he had suffered since his freshman year at North Dakota State. Those restrictions appear to an end. Since Wednesday, Nelson has played 83 minutes over four games in five days, two for Long Island, two for Brooklyn.

Wolf ended up having quite the afternoon as well. He finished with a 23/5/9 line, topped off with a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first, and some closing minutes with the starters. He even defended the rim well during a few sequences. It was his best outing since the Washington punt game in early February.

But aside from rookie highlights, the Nets also had more pep in their step than Cleveland, and frankly, that mattered more than anything else.

Brooklyn’s newfound length via Nelson stalled the Cleveland offense midway through the second, and after a corner three from Nolan Traoré, Brooklyn went ahead with about four to play in the half. With each stop, the Nets gave themselves a chance to get out and push against a Cleveland team at the tail end of a road trip and looking like it. They grabbed eight fast break points in the second, and a 52-46 lead at halftime. Even with just two points to his name, Ziaire Williams was also a game-high +15 at that point.

“You said the length, but it’s also how locked in they were in communication,” Fernández said. “I think Z [Ziaire Williams] was the one right there defensively, got so many deflections. Just being disruptive. We’re disruptive…So great job by that second unit.”

Allen and Harden again put in Cleveland’s first nine points of the next half, but this time, Brooklyn managed to keep pace with a flurry of threes from Porter Jr. and Noah Clowney. The Nets didn’t give up their lead until the 5:10 mark of the third after Sam Merrill nailed his first triple of the game.

Wolf also returned with more highlights in the second half…

But Brooklyn’s second unit couldn’t pack the same punch it had in the first half. The beard had an easier time burrowing through Brooklyn’s defense. Saraf’s lack of spacing hurt the Nets at the other end as well. He even had a Ben Simmons moment near the end of the third. He couldn’t hit the wide open three the Cleveland defense dared him to take, but at least he shot it, right?

Seven lead changes in the final period’s opening minutes teased a fun finish few, if anyone, expected us to get. However, the suspense could only last so long. The back-and-forth action ceased in the frame’s latter half as Brooklyn’s offense ran out of answers after Harden got back to dicing up the Net defense. Evan Mobley, who seemed to be the tiredest of Cleveland’s snoozy crew this afternoon, woke up in the period as well, working his way to eight points in the post.

But even as the Cavaliers slowly sailed to a win, the Nets kept the pressure up. Traoré pitched in four points in the fourth, including two via a tough fend-off and turn around finish. MPJ added 10, hitting some of the most “MPJ” shots you’ll ever see. Traoré finished with 17 points and two assists while shooting 7-15 from the field. Porter Jr. tallied 26 points, grabbed five boards, three steals, and two assists while shooting 5-8 from deep.

The Nets even had the ball while down three with 22 seconds to go after Cleveland committed an eight second violation. However, the Cavs opted to foul while up three every chance they had. Then, while playing the free throw game, they sank just enough looks to eventually ice the game.

That’s eight loses in a row. It’s not the “break through,” but we’ll settle for progress.

“I mean, we competed,” Fernández said. “That was our main goal, to give ourselves a chance, and I’m proud of the way we played. We played like a basketball team. I’m proud of the group. Now, it’s go tomorrow, watch some film, clean out some stuff that we could have done better. Right now, it’s night and day, compared to what we went through.”

Final: Cleveland Cavaliers 106, Brooklyn Nets 102

Milestone Watch

• With 11 points, four rebounds, one assist and three blocks in tonight’s game, Grant Nelson became the first player in franchise history with 10+ PTS, 5+ AST and 5+ BLK across their first two career games.
• Nelson also became the second Net to record multiple blocks in consecutive games to begin their career (Brook Lopez, three straight in 2008) and the second Net with 5+ blocks through two career games (Jarrett Allen, 2017)
• Danny Wolf had a season-high 23 points against Cleveland with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, becoming the fourth rookie in franchise history to reach such minimums in a game (Chris Morris: 1x in 1988-89, Mike O’Koren: 2x in 1980-81 and Bernard King: 4x in 1977-78).
• Danny Wolf’s 12 points and three 3-pointers in the first half were both the second most in a half in his career, trailing only his highs of 17 points and four 3PM in the first half on 11/29 at Milwaukee.

Injury Report

As mentioned above, Nic Claxton missed tonight’s game with a right thumb sprain. We know he’s been dealing with that for a while now, but Jordi Fernández mentioned pregame that he got hit against the Spurs.

“He’s going to be out tonight, and then we’ll see how he feels after, so there’s no timetable,” Fernández also added.

Next Up

Brooklyn is back in action on Tuesday evening, playing the first of two straight vs the Miami Heat. This is Brooklyn’s last baseball-like series of the season. The Nets have lost four of their last five vs the Heat. This one tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET.

• Boxscore: Cleveland Cavaliers 106, Brooklyn Nets 102 – NBA
• Game Highlights: Cleveland Cavaliers 106, Brooklyn Nets 102 (Video) – NBA
• Jordi Fernandez PostGame Interview (Video) – YES Network
• Danny Wolf PostGame Interview (Video) – YES Network
• Harden scores 22 points with broken thumb, leads Cavaliers over the Nets 106-102 – AP
• Kenny Atkinson confident rebuild will pay off as former Nets team suffers tight loss to Cavaliers – Brian Lewis – New York Post
• Danny Wolf and Grant Nelson step up, but Nets’ skid hits eight in 106-102 loss to Cavaliers ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
• For young Nets, Terance Mann provides the pro’s blueprint ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
• Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. drops 26 in 106-102 loss to Cavaliers – Sharif Phillips-Keaton – USA TODAY