Brooklyn Nets defeat Charlotte Hornets 116-115 in wild In-Season Tournament bout

Brooklyn’s first home game of the Emirates NBA Cup was chippy at times, sloppy at others, but above all, wildly entertaining. Oh, and a win.

The Charlotte Hornets stung the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. It happened fast and early, but with some lemon water, a cold compress, and steals, the Nets were able to recover. Buzz Kill.

Although the Nets dropped their NBA In-Season Tournament debut against the New York Knicks on Friday, Tuesday night marked their first home game of the event. Special towels were handed out to fans pregame, and a flashy gray-and-gold court injected Barclays with a different feel than what you usually get in November contests between two basement-dwellers.

Even with all that hype brewing, the Nets lost some pep in their step even before things tipped off, as Cam Thomas was unable to suit up. Brooklyn tagged CT with a “probable” injury designation — with lower back tightness — but was downgraded to questionable and then OUT leading up to game time.

After that injury sedated Brooklyn’s vibe, the Hornets anesthetized it, jetting out to an 22-7 lead by starting the game 6-of-6 on field goals and 5-of-5 from deep. The Nets struggled to communicate screens and didn’t do themselves any favors on the glass either, all that adding up to a 37-23 deficit after the first quarter…

“Our physicality was not good,” said Fernández of the start. “We were giving them too much cushion. Our ball pressure was poor, and then they were doing what they do best…they shoot the three very well. They have very good shooters and we got punished for not starting the right way.”

Considering what we’ve seen so far this year, its reasonable to call poor and unfocused defense off-brand for the Jordi Fernández-led Nets, and the team validated that line of thinking in the following frame, which Fernández went on to call his team’s “best defensive quarter” postgame. Brooklyn’s defense tightened up to allow just three triples on nine attempts in period two and force a handful of Charlotte mistakes.

Cam Johnson was at the front of those efforts both in a literal and figurative sense, pressing up during series of defensive sequences that helped spark a 14-4 run down the stretch of the quarter. Oh, and at the offensive end, he happened to go for 34 points tonight while going 6-12 from deep. That equated a career-high for him in a Nets uniform.

It may or may not have been ended by a Ben Simmons posterization that you’re certain to see all over House of Highlights this week considering who started the play, but it nonetheless helped the Nets head into the half down just five…

Ironically, the Nets were able to keep stride through two by doing one thing they’ve failed to all season — force turnovers. At the break Charlotte, was more efficient from the floor and owned a +11 rebounding advantage. The Nets, with no other stat left to dominate, forced Charlotte into 14 turnovers that led to 17 points.

But the Nets were able to get into their comfort zone early in the third — still forcing turnovers but also attacking in a more familiar format by way of the three ball. The Nets took the lead for the first time after a 10-2 run to open the third where they forced two more Charlotte giveaways and splashed two triples on three attempts.

Along the perimeter at the other end, the Nets’ coordination on rotations and pursuit of the ball reached peak contrast with what we saw from them in the first. The strong, yet controlled closeouts we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from Brooklyn earlier in the year came back into the limelight as well.

That was, until they didn’t. A bad Ziaire Williams contest on a Tidjane Salaun triple that drew a whistle and three shots at the stripe made it a tie game with just under two to play in the third.

A gravity-defying Tre Mann dunk — over a statuesque Noah Clowney trying to take a charge rather than block a shot — soon after helped them go up by a deuce heading into the fourth…

Both teams then came out swinging in the final round, with Charlotte making five of its first seven shots and Brooklyn going six-for-nine to open the fourth. That left things knotted 100-100 with about seven to go. After two buckets from Ben Simmons and threes from Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges, Brooklyn sat with a one point lead.

Charlotte looked moments away from taking it back before Trendon Watford, playing in his second game, made his unwillingness to give it up on both ends of the floor known.

With Josh Green running down to the floor for a fast break and go-ahead bucket all in one, Watford rose up to rejected his floater. Not long after, he scored seven straight points for the Nets to give them a five point lead with 38 seconds to go. Five of those were on two separate and-one plays, only one came at the net cost of one point due to some technical fouls issues to both Watford and Charlotte head coach Charles Lee.

“He was very impactful with his drives, his control,” said Fernández. “It’s really hard to switch on him because he’ll make the right play. His competitiveness. His personality is contagious. So, very happy that he had the game that he had … I think that it’s a win for everybody: for the team, for Trendon, and for medical performance. I think that’s a cool thing to see out there.”

A quick layup from Miller at the other end and a stop from the Hornets did put the pressure back on Brooklyn, leaving them still up three with the ball in Charlotte’s hands and five seconds to play. Miller’s final shot, a triple, was well-contested by Finney-Smith and fell way short. It was cleaned up for two by Grant Williams, but the Nets quickly inbounded the ball and ran off the milliseconds left.

Brooklyn may not have any grand illusions of competition for the Larry O this season, but their Cup dreams live on.

Final: Brooklyn Nets 116, Charlotte Hornets 115

Milestone Watch

• Cam Johnson was the man of the night for Brooklyn, and his 34 points mark not just a season-high, but a Nets career-high. It also marks his 4th-career 30-point game, and his third for Brooklyn.
• Brooklyn finished with 30 assists on Tuesday night, their fourth such game of the season and second consecutive one.
• The Nets turned Charlotte over 23 times, Brooklyn’s third game this season forcing at least 20 turnovers. They had just two all of last season.
• Jalen Wilson’s five 3-pointers is a career-high for the sophomore, and his 17 points mark a season-high.

Fouling up three

Tuesday’s victory marked the first time Brooklyn had a chance to foul up three points in the dying seconds of the game. They chose not to, but don’t mistake that for an over-arching philosophy for Fernández…

“We were trying [to foul],” the head coach said before explaining his strategy.

“We give them rules, but then I’ll tell them, you do it if you’re comfortable doing it. I trust you. So if you feel like you can do it, do it, but if not, we’re just gonna get the stop. At the end of the day, they gotta own it. They’re the ones playing, I’m not out there. A lot of times when you try to foul, I’ve seen it so many times: You give an and-1, or you foul a 3-point shot, or you foul before the ball is inbounded because guys are nervous. It’s like, ‘these are our rules, you do it only you feel comfortable with the situation.’

“I think we tried, but then they were outside the 3-point line, we could not foul on that one. And then when they were inside the 3-point line with almost the shot-clock at zero, then we were good.”

Injury Report

As mentioned beforehand, Cam Thomas missed tonight’s game with what the team called lower back tightness. Jordi Fernández described him as “good” pregame but also said he’d need to go through some court work feeling the same in order to play tonight. That obviously didn’t happen.

“Yeah, he was not feeling good,” said Fernández postgame. “And we told him that we’re not going to risk, anything. We want guys to be, not 100%, but 200% and that’s why we have a team that everybody’s ready, next man mentality.”

Brooklyn’s head coach added that while Thomas initially felt his back flare up in Sunday’s game vs. the New York Knicks, he doesn’t expect it to be too serious.

Also worth noting: Monday marked the six-week mark since the Nets announced Day’Ron Sharpe’s hamstring injury. Brooklyn said they’d provide an update on him by the end of that timetable (though it was originally eight weeks), so keep an eye out for something soon.

Next Up

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Brooklyn will head down the turnpike to face a Philadelphia 76ers team in danger of combusting into the league’s next dumpster fire. Earlier this week, the Sixers held a team meeting after a loss where Tyrese Maxey called out Joel Embiid for being late to meetings and other team events. The Sixers are currently 2-11 on the season.

Philly will first play the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday before welcoming the Nets, which will be an Emirates NBA Cup contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening.

• Box Score: Brooklyn Nets 116, Charlotte Hornets 115 – NBA
• Game Highlights: Brooklyn Nets 116, Charlotte Hornets 115 (Video) – NBA
• Fantastic Finishes: Final 3:48 WILD ENDING Hornets at Nets (Video) – NBA