Brooklyn Nets fall in OT thriller vs Utah Jazz, lose 112-111

They didn’t give us a win, but gave us a show tonight, which is more than we’ve been able to say for some time now.

Hours removed from a Cooper Flagg masterclass, everyone knew the drill tonight in Salt Lake City. The Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz, two teams synonymous with the rebuild narrative, aka the “t” word, met for a battle of epic proportions but also made it clear they’d be pulling their punches one way or another even before things tipped off.

Brooklyn’s injury ledger included Cam Thomas, Cameron Johnson, and D’Angelo Russell. Utah’s featured Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Keyonte George, Johnny Juzang, Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendricks, and Jordan Clarkson.

Whether by design or not, they both positioned themselves for a loss and possibly a shot at Flagg, Dylan Harper, or Ace Bailey

Injuries and whatever you want to call that aside, both teams played on regardless. An aggressive Ben Simmons helped the Nets jet out to an early lead. He took full advantage of Brooklyn’s limited other point guard options off the bench, putting up four shots in the first half.

Unlike most nights, that aggressiveness stayed with him beyond the first quarter. Simmons finished the game with 14 points, nine assists, and six rebounds while shooting 7-11 from the field. Those 11 field attempts tied a season-high for him, also against the Jazz in late December.

“Ben was engaged the whole game,” said Fernández postgame. “Very, very good line. We need this type of Ben. Aggressive, trying to score, very efficient. But what I liked the most was him engaging with his teammates, talking to his teammates, telling them what to do. And that was very good.”

It was a good day to be in his shoes as a frequent fast break igniter. The Jazz surrender transition points like handouts in the street, giving up a league-most 30.3 per game this year. The Nets did their homework and came in with their shoelaces double-knotted, running and gunning for 19 points on the break.

But Brooklyn’s bench was active nonetheless, as 10 Nets saw first quarter action where eight scored. Tosan Evbuomwan, the newest Net, benefitted from the fluid rotation more than anyone, tallying a career high 22 points to go with five rebounds and one dime. Reaching double figures for the third time in a row, the two-way continues to make his case for minutes even after the injury bug relinquishes its bite on the Nets.

“Amazing…always under control,” said Fernández of his newest player. “Looks like a guy that has been there before and he’s 23. Very happy to see him, keep working with him, keep developing him. He’s doing his job.”

Brooklyn led from the 7:36 point of the first until a Kyle Filipowski triple four minutes removed from halftime put the Jazz back in front. The Nets controlled things for most of the half via the combined aggressiveness from Simmons and Evbuomwan as well as some stingy perimeter defense, at one point holding Utah scoreless for nearly three minutes to begin the second frame.

All in all, the first two periods went as advertised at least from an offensive standpoint. Neither squad shot north of 43% in the first half, which the Jazz led after by a 49-48 score.

That crisp mountain air wasn’t enough to keep everyone cold in the third period, however, where both teams shot a combined 54.8% from the field. Utah made their first three shots of the quarter. The Nets continued to mine transition opportunities while the Jazz connected on a flurry of threes, shooting 7-10 from deep, giving them their highest 3-point percentage in a period all season.

Like Simmons, Clowney took advantage of the track meet taking place before him tonight as well, specifically in the third period. The sophomore stretch big struggled to score, finishing with no points to his name while shooting 0-9 from the field. Box score atrocities aside though, he enjoyed a solid night, flashing his two-way capabilities above all else.

Alas, the Jazz strummed together a 15-4 run down the stretch of the third, putting the Nets behind entering the final period — a familiar spot for them being blowout victims in their last four games. Brooklyn trailed going into the fourth by seven points, which in a game featuring 12 lead changes and two ties by that point, felt more like a 15-point deficit.

Brooklyn’s shot diet down the stretch of the game was unfamiliar, however.

The Nets, who rank bottom-10 in paint points and top-5 in triples made per game, flipped the script. Brooklyn dominated the Jazz inside tonight 58-38, getting their first six shots of the fourth period down law tonight as well, partly a result of Kessler getting some rest. They sank just 10 threes for the game including the overtime period as well, ranking as their fifth fewest in a game for the season.

The switch-up drew little returns, at least early in the fourth, as the Jazz established their largest lead for in the game, going up 98-85 with 7:18 to play. However, as the game reached its witching minutes, the many fouls Brooklyn drew by probing inside started to pay dividends.

Brooklyn entered the bonus roughly halfway through the fourth, laying the seeds for a comeback effort. Tyrese Martin, Ziaire Williams, and Nic Claxton added water and sunshine, hitting a handful of shots from the stripe before Martin splashed a triple to make it a six point affair with roughly five to go.

Martin finished the game with 11 points, three assists, eight rebounds, a block, and a steal while shooting 5-13 from the field. Williams tallied 19 points, two assists and six rebounds after shooting 3-of-7 from deep. Claxton notched 14 points, 12 rebounds, a block, and four assists while shooting 5-of-12. (Here’s question when was the last time two two-ways, scored 33 points between them, as Evbuomwan and Martin did tonight?)

There’s no good time to endure a four-minute scoring drought, but the Jazz picked the worst one, failing to find nylon time after time as the Nets crept up on them in the stretch run, eventually allowing Brooklyn to tie the game 102-102 with a minute to go following some stellar defense from Clax and two more makes at the line for Williams.

After a missed Martin three that would have broken the tie with under a minute to play, Utah had their shot to win it at the buzzer, but then gave it away, failing to hustle up the court and getting charged with an eight-second violation with 18 seconds to go.

Brooklyn failed to hit a game winner either but in a far more inspiring fashion. A ghost screen from Williams got Martin the switch he wanted. The two-way got a step and got the ball up in Claxton’s wheelhouse for a game-winning flush, but he was unable to get a grip on the ball, so to overtime we went.

There, Tosan Evbuomwan and Collin Sexton dueled as the seesaw affair continued into that extra frame’s final seconds. Brooklyn held the ball with just under a minute to go, and despite putting up three shots in the possession, never hit the rim and suffered a shot clock violation while down 110-109.

So, time to finally put this one to rest? Not quite. Claxton stole the ball from Isaiah Collier on the following possession. A drive from Evbuomwan, some contact from him, and two makes at the line then put the Nets in front.

Utah’s rookie would redeem himself soon after, however, giving Claxton a taste of his own medicine to sneak by and put his team back up one.

The Nets were out of absurd game-stealing efforts by that point. Possessing the ball with about two seconds to go, Utah’s defense blanketed them for a second straight time in the extra period, prohibiting Brooklyn from getting shot off.

Fernández, as usual, took the responsibility postgame.

“Both plays on defense and offense didn’t work the way we wanted to, so I have to be better with being clear with what we want, the execution, so those two plays are on me,” he said.

Brooklyn was without their lead creator in those final possessions with Simmons still playing on a pitch count.

“We have to be responsible,” Fernández said. “I think that a lot of times, true competitors always will tell you, ‘I want to stay in.’ We talked about some other players, you got to save them from themselves. You know Ben, I’m sure that if I asked him, he wanted to be in, but at the same time, we know where we started this summer. We know where we are at right now. We like the progression, and we’re going to keep doing that. We’re going to do what’s best for him, his body, first and then for the team.”

Responsibility indeed seemed like the theme for this one. Although it would have been fun to see Brooklyn swipe a game right out from under Utah’s nose, the loss has the potential to set the team up better in the long run. It’s another L that might turn into a W come May.

Final: Utah Jazz 112, Brooklyn Nets 111

Injury Report

As mentioned beforehand, Thomas, Johnson, and Russell missed tonight’s game. Trendon Watford and Cam Thomas also stayed in street clothes, but we knew that would be the case going into the game.

Jordi Fernández did say Johnson could return at some point during this road trip, so keep an eye out for that. The team did say they’d reevaluate him before beginning it Thomas won’t be evaluated until after, however.

Milestone Watch

• In what was his 22nd NBA game and fifth as a Net, Tosan Evbuomwan achieved a career high 22 points.
• Nic Claxton (14 points, 10 boards) recorded his eighth double-double of the season
• Ziaire Williams, with 19 points tonight, had his career-best fifth straight game scoring in double figures.

The Tank

With game now in the books. the Nets have the sixth best chances at the overall No. 1, a half game ahead of Blazers who are in seventh but now two and a half games behind the Jazz who are in 5th and 3 games behind the fourth place Hornets with 43 games to go. The Nets other picks are now 18, 26, 27 and 26.

Ziaire Williams family homes safe

Ziaire Williams grew up in the Los Angeles area and played for Sierra Canyon High School in L.A. So far, the wave of fires rampaging through Southern California have not directly affected his family.

“My house is safe, family is safe,” Williams told The Post. “So that’s a blessing, for sure. “[The fires] are spread out. There’s a fire to the west of us and fire south of us. L.A. is pretty big, so they’re pretty spread out. But yeah, luckily, my house is safe. A couple of my friends lost their homes, but that stuff can be replaced. I’m just glad everybody’s safe and walking away.”

The Nets play the Clippers on Wednesday and the Lakers on Friday in L.A.

Next Up

Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Brooklyn’s next opponent is another one Nets fans should keep their eyes on in more ways than one. The Nets will stay out west to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday evening.

It’ll be the first of three Nets After Dark episode this week, with Brooklyn also facing the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Lakers soon after. All games will be at 10 p.m. EST time, so make sure to mix in an extra cup of coffee on those days.

• Boxscore: Utah Jazz 112, Brooklyn Nets 111 (OT) – NBA
• Game Highlights: Utah Jazz 112, Brooklyn Nets 111 (Video) – NBA
• Jordi Fernández and Tosan Evbuomwan Postgame Press Conferences at Jazz (Video) – Brooklyn Nets
• Isaiah Collier’s late layup in OT lifts the Jazz over the Nets 112-111 – John Coon – AP
• Isaiah Collier has career night as Jazz defeat Nets in OT – Larry Fleisher – Reuters
• Nets’ heartbreaking OT loss to Jazz comes with draft lottery solace – Brian Lewis – New York Post