Egor Demin’s long-awaited preseason debut headlined Friday night as the Nets closed out their exhibition slate with a 119-114 loss to the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. It didn’t take long for Brooklyn’s first lottery pick in 15 years to make his presence felt.
The eighth overall pick in June’s draft checked in with 10:40 left in the second quarter, Brooklyn trailing by 14, and was immediately met by Toronto’s swarming defense. The moment tested his composure, but Demin looked comfortable from the start — handling the ball with confidence, helping organize the offense and flashing his defensive instincts with an early block and a pair of sharp deflections.
Demin’s first points came on a baseline cut, where Cam Thomas found him for an easy finish under the rim. Moments later, he drew a foul on a 3-point attempt and sank two of his three free throws. Then, with 4:36 left in the first half, he stepped into a 26-footer and buried it. He finished the first half with 11 points, one rebound, one assist and one block in 11 minutes, going 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.
It was all Toronto before Demin’s spark. Brooklyn stumbled out of the gate, falling behind 10–2 as three early turnovers and poor transition defense allowed the Raptors to seize control. Toronto dominated the paint, punishing the Nets’ slow rotations and lack of communication.
Two quick fouls and a pair of turnovers from rookie Ben Saraf, who returned to the starting lineup for Brooklyn’s preseason finale, compounded the problem. It forced head coach Jordi Fernández to turn to fellow rookie Nolan Traore midway through the first quarter, but the struggles continued. On his first possession, Traore was stripped from behind for Brooklyn’s sixth turnover of the period — a play that perfectly summed up the team’s jittery start.
The Nets coughed up 16 turnovers in the first half, gifting Toronto 31 points and falling into a 72–56 hole at the break. Outside of Demin, Michael Porter Jr. was Brooklyn’s only consistent source of offense, scoring 19 points in his first 16 minutes.
Demin’s poised debut stood out as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise mistake-filled first half, earning him a spot on the floor to open the third quarter. He’d go on to play eight more minutes in the second half, finishing with 14 points, five rebounds, one assist, one block and two turnovers.
The Nets outscored Toronto 30–25 in the third quarter despite shooting just 36% from the field and committing five more turnovers, trimming the deficit to 11 heading into the final frame. Ziaire Williams sparked the surge, scoring nine of his 20 points in the period to help Brooklyn keep clawing back. Early in the fourth quarter, a Porter 3-pointer cut the lead to five, and a Williams steal and slam moments later made it a three-point game with 8:51 remaining.
Surprisingly, both coaches kept their key rotation players on the floor deep into the fourth, giving the preseason matchup the intensity of a regular-season battle. A crafty lefty finish from Saraf with 7:05 remaining gave the Nets their first lead of the night, setting the stage for a back-and-forth thriller down the stretch.
A Brandon Ingram 3-pointer put Toronto ahead by three with 58.7 seconds remaining, and after a missed Nets possession, a defensive lapse led to an easy RJ Barrett dunk that stretched the lead to five and sealed the game.
Porter finished with a game-high 34 points, while notable reserves Danny Wolf, Kobe Bufkin and Jalen Wilson did not see action. Demin was the clear story of the night, but Brooklyn’s resilience under Fernández continues to shape the team’s identity. As preseason finales go, the Nets couldn’t have asked for a more encouraging tune-up before the games start to count.
With all five rookies now having logged meaningful minutes and the 15-man roster essentially finalized, Brooklyn turns its focus to the real thing: the start of the 2025–26 regular season Wednesday night against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center.
