It ended with a loose ball, a shove, bodies flying in from every direction and a lengthy delay that sucked the air out of a tight game. Egor Dëmin and Dillon Brooks tangled as Ziaire Williams fought for a loose ball late and the scrum spilled outward. By the time order was restored, the momentum Brooklyn had just found was gone.
That moment came to define a night that slipped away in pieces for the Nets, who fell 106-102 to the Phoenix Suns Tuesday at Mortgage Matchup Center, dropped to 12-33 and lost their sixth straight. Brooklyn turned the ball over 22 times and Phoenix made them pay with 25 points off those mistakes. The Suns also owned the paint, 72-48, a gap that hovered over every Nets push.
“Those are just guys protecting each other and fighting for each other,” head coach Jordi Fernández said. “I think they did a great job. You’re not going to let any of your teammates get hit or pushed or anything. Obviously, there’s boundaries and we don’t want anyone to get hurt, but you saw a few dirty plays. They called it or they didn’t call it. I think it got out of hand because of that. But I like my guys sticking up for each other.”
The night began unevenly. A missed Michael Porter Jr. trey on Brooklyn’s opening possession and a Drake Powell turnover moments later put the Nets in a 4-0 hole. Porter, coming off a nine-point night in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Clippers, set an aggressive tone anyway. He scored 10 of Brooklyn’s first 12 points, repeatedly slicing to the rim as Phoenix top-locked him and chased him off the 3-point line. It kept the Nets close early against a Suns team that opened 8-for-14, with Brooks scoring seven quick points on 3-for-4 shooting.
Down nine with 4:44 left in the first quarter, Fernández went to his bench and the energy changed. The defensive focus sharpened. Day’Ron Sharpe bullied his way to six points in less than five minutes. Cam Thomas saw a couple of early jumpers fall, and Brooklyn finally found offense beyond Porter. The Nets didn’t grab their first lead until there were 28.3 seconds left, on a Sharpe putback, but a 15-5 closing run sent them into the second quarter up 29-28.
It marked the first time Brooklyn won the opening quarter since Jan. 16, with rookie Ben Saraf helping fuel the late push by handing out two assists in his first three minutes. Nolan Traore was available after dealing with an illness but didn’t play, as Thomas and Saraf handled the backcourt minutes.
Brooklyn didn’t make its first field goal of the second quarter until the 9:03 mark, when Ziaire Williams buried a 24-footer. Fernández went back to his starters with 7:01 left in the half and that’s when the game began to slide again. A miss from Dëmin. A miss from Porter. The margin stretched to six before Dëmin stopped the bleeding with a jumper at the 5:28 mark.
Even after a Nigel Hayes-Davis turnover forced Phoenix into a timeout, the Nets couldn’t slow the slide and the Suns soon pushed the lead to 12, their largest of the half. A Porter backcut dunk off a sharp pass from Ziaire Williams cut it to a nine-point game at the break.
Porter scored 19 of his season-high 36 points in the first half, helping Brooklyn shoot 53.8%, but 10 turnovers that turned into 14 Suns points loomed large early. Dëmin and Saraf combined for four of those giveaways. Phoenix also got 10 points from Mark Williams in the first quarter and 11 from Brooks in the second.
One of Fernández’s halftime adjustments was starting Ziaire Williams in place of Powell, who finished the opening half with little to show beyond a lone turnover and a minus-9 in just over eight minutes. Porter opened the third quarter with eight straight points, including a pair of threes, pushing his total to 27 with 9:47 left in the third and trimming the deficit to three. But three straight turnovers from Ziaire Williams, Terance Mann and Dëmin allowed Phoenix to rebuild a 10-point cushion in a matter of minutes.
Despite six more turnovers, Porter’s 11 points gave the Nets a 24-22 edge in the third and kept them within striking distance heading into the fourth.
Ziaire Williams, Dëmin and Porter each knocked down threes early in the final frame, with a Thomas bucket and a pair of Sharpe free throws mixed in, as Brooklyn cut the deficit to two with 5:52 left. A few possessions later, Mann drove into the paint, absorbed hard contact from Grayson Allen and finished through it to tie the game at 93. The contact was ruled excessive, Allen was hit with a technical and Mann’s free throw put the Nets back in front for the first time since early in the second while allowing them to keep the ball.
Dëmin followed with another trey, his third of the night, giving Brooklyn its largest lead at four. Moments later, everything boiled over.
As Ziaire Williams battled Brooks, Allen and Jamaree Bouyea for a loose ball, Dëmin shoved Brooks, igniting a scrum that pulled in Royce O’Neale, Mann and the Nets bench. After an 11-minute delay, Dëmin, Mann and Porter were assessed technical fouls for Brooklyn, while O’Neale and Allen were hit with technicals for Phoenix. The Suns were awarded one free throw before a jump ball. Allen missed the free throw, but Phoenix won the tip. Ziaire Williams, injured on the initial play, was replaced by Saraf to close the game.
Brooklyn still had a chance. After Porter picked off Allen with 58.8 seconds left, Fernández called timeout with the Nets trailing 104-102. Out of the break, Dëmin’s three-pointer came up short, Brooklyn secured the offensive rebound and then turned it over. Allen pushed the lead to four on the next possession, making it a two-possession game with 12.8 seconds left and effectively sealing it.
Dëmin finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, with six of those points coming in the fourth. Porter carried the scoring load all night, while Phoenix leaned on Brooks and Mark Williams, who poured in 26 and 27 points, respectively, with Devin Booker out.
Fernández said the Nets don’t know what Ziaire Williams’ injury is or the severity of it yet.
Brooklyn continues its West Coast swing Thursday against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.
