3 Takeaways from Brooklyn Nets lethargic loss to San Antonio Spurs

A dank night in Brooklyn Only 51 left!

When the Brooklyn Nets and San Antonio Spurs trotted out to the floor tonight both sporting grey and white jerseys, it wasn’t just a wardrobe choice reveal — it was an omen of the colorless (but not odorless) game to proceed.

In their last contest before we turn the calendar, the two teams gave us one we’d prefer to leave behind in 2024. Although San Antonio walked away victorious, they did so in ugly fashion, shooting sub-40% from the field and 30% from three for much of the game.

The Nets did that too — but also lost the game. While that’s something a large faction of the Nets fans probably prefer at this point with Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper highlights flooding our timelines, Brooklyn could have made it easier to stomach tonight. Gulping this one down, here’s what we learned.

Defense Still Has a Chance

All the basketball sleuths looking to pinpoint why Brooklyn has struggled in these final two weeks of December seem to have zeroed in on the Dennis Schröder trade as the guilty culprit. While there’s no shortage of evidence supporting that claim, the Nets’ defense, particularly around the rim, is also culpable.

Coming into tonight, no team gave up a higher opponent field goal percentage in the painted area over their last 10 games than the Brooklyn Nets. The next closest team, the Toronto Raptors, stood a whole five percentage points away from them as well.

But this evening, even while up against perhaps the most versatile big man in league history, Brooklyn flashed their ability to tighten that up. To stop a 7’3” extraterrestrial being, you need a three-headed monster, and that’s exactly Nets deployed early at the defensive end.

Noah Clowney, Dorian-Finney Smith, and Nic Claxton looked especially strong in the first quarter, where the Nets held the Spurs to a 3-of-24 shooting performance putting aside an answered prayer from half court. In the paint, San Antonio also shot just 2-of-14 in the first despite the presence of said extraterrestrial Victor Wembenyama…

Possibly deterred by the presence of the disgusting, or denial brothers + Clowney (yes, the Nets once referred to them as that), San Antonio then didn’t take a shot inside until over three and a half minutes into the second.

Obviously, that couldn’t last forever, and it sure as hell didn’t. With Brooklyn beginning to experience their own offensive struggles to start the second frame and San Antonio adding more variation to its shot profile, the Spurs went on a 16-2 run to seize the lead. With only a handful of available players, their closeouts weakened as the game progressed as well. Like a partially filled helium balloon, their field goal percentage slowly rose to exceed the 40% mark just before the final horn.

Nonetheless, that initial burst was something to behold, and at least for the guys we expect to be around for the long haul like Claxton and Clowney, makes you think the Nets have a chance to be something special defensively for years to come.

Shake Milton Should Start Games Without Ben

Brooklyn Nets fans know by now that Ben Simmons missing games is a matter of “when,” not “if.” Contrary to what Jordi Fernández hinted at yesterday, back-to-backs still appear to be out of the question for Ben10. A handful of back surgeries will do that for you.

With that said, and with Schröder long gone by now, a question mark will continue to hover above Brooklyn’s starting point guard spot every seventh or eighth game. Tonight, argued the fates, Shake Milton is the answer to it.

In a game that reeked of 90s NBA nostalgia for all the wrong reasons, Milton was one of the few Nets who looked ready for 2025 with his offensive game. The team collectively shot just 38.9% from the field, hence their low scoring point output for the night, but Milton managed to hit a 55.6% percent clip (5-of-9) while adding 16 points…

The scoring was only half of it, however. Milton did well to navigate the ball around and through the lengthy San Antonio defense, finding his teammates to finish with 12 assists — the second most he’s had in a game in his career. Milton, a spry 28, also turned the rock over just once while playing distributor, completing the cycle in terms of statistics for a point guard.

While Keon Johnson remains a difference-maker as a gutsy defender who just so happened to ball out tonight too, Milton has looked more like the point guard of late, and that’s what the Nets need more of right now.

It shouldn’t necessarily come at the expense of Johnson’s minutes, but Shake deserves to start during the inevitable off nights for Simmons even when CJ and CT return in the name of offensive balance.

Not Much Going for Beekman Yet

Speaking of the guard rotation post-Schröder, tonight was the first time all season we got more than a glimpse at Reece Beekman. Before today, he had never had more than four minutes in a game for the Nets … or any NBA game. Tonight, Jordi Fernández handed him 14.

Unfortunately, they didn’t entail a whole lot from a statistical standpoint. Beekman failed to bring in any points, going 0-3 from the field and 0-2 from deep. He did drop a dime however and illustrated some speed as a ball-handler, specifically with his first step. That’s something we know he’s done at the G-League level already this year as well.

It’s unlikely Beekman plays significant minutes again after the Nets heal up, but his willingness to shoot the three and forge drive-and-kick actions still makes him a possible fit down the line in a Jordi Fernández system. If not tonight, keep an eye on him if the Nets unload their team come trade deadline season and start to feature younger talent even more frequently.