The Nets’ 2024-25 season concluded with a hard-fought 113-105 loss to the rival Knicks inside a packed Barclays Center on Sunday. The Knicks took the season series 4-0.
Brooklyn finished 26-56 in head coach Jordi Fernandez‘s inaugural season, the sixth-worst record in the NBA.
“We’re going into a very important summer for us,” Fernandez said. “And this game matters. It matters like the minutes all these guys play for me to coach it, and to play the right way.”
Cam Thomas (left hamstring strain), Day’Ron Sharpe (right knee sprain), D’Angelo Russell (right ankle sprain), Cam Johnson (lower back contusion), Noah Clowney (right ankle sprain), Ziaire Williams (right patella tendinopathy) and Reece Beekman (right calf soreness) were in street clothes for the regular-season finale.
The Knicks sat their usual starters, aside from former Net Mikal Bridges, who played just six seconds to keep his NBA-best active streak of consecutive games played intact.
The Nets who were available gave their best. Jalen Wilson (18 points), Trendon Watford (20 points), Nic Claxton (12 points), Keon Johnson (14 points), Tyrese Martin (20 points) and Drew Timme (11 points) all finished in double figures. Brooklyn shot 51.4% as a team, knocked down 12 3-pointers and scored 48 points in the paint.
However, turnovers remained an issue. The Nets had 19 giveaways, which gave the Knicks 31 points. Landry Shamet and Cameron Payne paced the Knicks with 29 and 21 points, respectively.
“Yeah, if our players are not excited to play, then probably they should not be part of our future,” Fernandez said. “So, I’ve always seen our players as they always want to play and always come to work.
“Sometimes games don’t go our way, and it happens in the NBA. But our guys have been amazing, their willingness to work, show up, be positive, get better. And that’s why we’ll always support each other. I’ve never seen one that didn’t want to be here, doesn’t want to use the minutes. So, you know, our guys are not on vacation. And they show up every day and do their job.”
The franchise now turns its attention to the draft lottery on May 12. It’ll be one of the more important dates in team history. The Nets are locked into the sixth-best draft lottery odds and have a 37.2% chance at a Top 4 pick and a 9% chance at the No.1 overall pick.
The 2025 NBA Draft will take place on June 25-26 at Barclays Center.
“After 82 we’ll probably evaluate, and we’ll sit, Sean [Marks], myself, we’ll have a plan,” Fernandez said. “We’ve already started with our plan for what we’re trying to do this summer, but to me the most important thing has been, you know, things come at you very fast in this job and you don’t know until you know.
“Even though you have an idea of how you want to do things, then when you’re on that chair, things change, and you have to pivot one way or the other. The one thing I can tell you is I have felt very supported the whole season, whether it’s ownership, front office, and also the coaching staff, and that’s helped me navigate a lot of the issues that come my way, and I think we do it together.”
