After dropping consecutive road games to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday and Saturday, the Nets welcomed Anthony Davis and the Dallas Mavericks to Brooklyn on Monday in the first of three straight games at Barclays Center.
Entering the night, Davis had appeared in just one game for Dallas since the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. The 10-time All-Star and NBA champion had been sidelined with an adductor strain suffered against Houston Rockets on Feb. 8
Davis finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in his Mavericks debut, but his afternoon ended early in the third quarter. The Nets’ challenge was attempting to mitigate his production in his first game back.
The 32-year-old was limited to just 28 minutes against Brooklyn.
“Obviously, with the return of a very special player, it’s good for us, good to figure out how to have different coverages executed and give ourselves a chance,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We want to keep growing. We want to compete. We’ll go out there and fight against anybody and that’s the most important thing from where we’re coming.”
Monday was Brooklyn’s first meeting with Dallas this season. The teams will face off for the last time in 2024-25 next Monday at American Airlines Center.
TOUGH BREAKS
An argument can be made that the Nets are in the midst of the most ethical tank in recent memory. Fernandez has them playing hard just about every night. They haven’t sat multiple key players for egregious stretches. They went 2-8 over their last 10 games entering Monday — with each loss coming by single digits.
“It comes down to a lot of different things, from getting one more stop to not fouling a 3-point shooter the other day, to getting one less turnover, to executing one more play, to having a good time in a two-for-one,” Fernandez said. “There’s so many things you can do and when we lost the game in overtime the other day, it came down to one possession, right? Because the game went to overtime, and we had controlled the whole game.”
However, the way in which Brooklyn continues to lose games remains frustrating from a coaching standpoint. Draft lottery goals aside, Fernandez, for one, wants to see his young team improve at finishing close games down the stretch.
“We always think about the last possession, a lot of times. I think winning teams, they take care of those possessions throughout games, and we’re going to build towards that — towards having the mentality that I don’t have a part, the pressure, to go out there and have to figure it out when the game is tied,” Fernandez said. “Now, if it is, we’ll go ahead and do it, but if not, we’ll be more cautious of playing throughout 48 minutes.”
LEADING THROUGH EXPERIENCE
The average age of the Nets’ 18-man roster is 24 years old. Cam Johnson and D’Angelo Russell, both 29, are the veterans of the group by age and NBA experience. Johnson is the only guy on the team who has appeared in the NBA Finals.
Johnson’s experience has trusted him into a leadership role this season in Brooklyn, whether he likes it or not. He’s continued to grow in his new role, and Fernandez has taken notice.
“I think, at the beginning, he did everything we asked him,” Fernandez said of Johnson. “And right now, he can talk at times when he’s comfortable. He’ll go and, you know, he’ll address the group, which is a good thing. And like you said, he’s our oldest guy, and he’s still in his 20s, late 20s. And that’s good. It tells you how young our group is, and a lot of these guys, they’re going to keep developing, keep working.”
