Brooklyn Nets forfeit defense against Toronto Raptors, lose 130-113

D’Angelo Russell’s return was quite fun, be he couldn’t prevent a Toronto Raptors avalanche that lasted for 48 minutes and buried the Nets on New Year’s Day

The Brooklyn Nets have been the NBA’s most active front office during the 2024-25 regular season, and spent the turn of the new year switching up their roster even more, re-introducing themselves to an old friend Here at NetsDaily, we covered each and every recent move Brooklyn (and Long Island) made, and most importantly, asked what the franchise’s next steps should be in light of these moves.

After all, even this team’s present is about its future, as they continue to trade away locker room leaders for expiring salary and second-rounders.

And yet, the Brooklyn Nets had a game to play on the first day of 2025, a game against a team coming off one of the worst stretches in NBA history. Entering Wednesday night, the Toronto Raptors had lost 11 games in a row, and had outscored by 112 points over their last three games. The NBA record still stands, just barely, at 114.

During that time, Brooklyn had arguably improved. Dorian Finney-Smith had already missed 11 games on the season at the time of his departure, and even his imminent return would not have fixed the biggest problem currently facing the Nets: an anemic offense, especially in transition.

D’Angelo Russell, though? The 28-year-old would certainly help there; though his time between stints in Brooklyn may have lowered some on his game, he did make an All-Star team in 2018-2019 as the Nets’ lead ball-handler.

He showed why in the first half in Toronto, scoring 16 points and leading a transition attack that suddenly looked functional for BK…

In the half-court, he did D-Lo things, dribbling around screens and hitting impossibly high-arching threes, hitting open shooters, and injecting Brooklyn’s offense with a level of structure that had em rolling early.

Just hours after he said “It’s a good feeling, honestly, to go back somewhere you’re comfortable, somewhere you know the ins and outs a little bit, see some familiar faces. It kind of makes the process a little easier to adjust to,” Russell sure looked adjusted, finishing with 22 points and eight assists on 9-of-13 shooting.

“I think he was outstanding, his engagement, communication, attention, everything,” said Head Coach Jordi Fernández postgame. “And obviously, we try to keep it simple. As we all know, his court-vision, ability to play pick-and-roll, it’s pretty special. He had also good deflections and active hands.”

Then Jordi paused and said, “We have to be better, defensively, as a team.”

Indeed, for the first time in nearly a month, Brooklyn’s problem was not on offense

They could not stop the Raptors on Wednesday night, not during and after a nine-point lead in the second quarter evaporated in the blink of an eye. Scottie Barnes, who has frequently been out of the Raptors lineup with injury, was en route to playing his best game of the season, finishing with 33/13/5 on 14-of-18 shooting.

But it wasn’t just a case of a star player having an unstoppable night; Toronto scored an eye-popping 33 transition points and shot 50% from three. Every starter scored at least a dozen, and there were three 20-point scorers. The Nets didn’t even turn it over that much to spark transition offense, but every one of their long misses turned into a layup line. Nobody went above and beyond to stop the ball; in fact, it was often quite the opposite…

Nic Claxton had a strong offensive game, once again playing with a true point guard. He put up 16/10/4 on 7-of-11, but did not offer much in the way of rim-protection. Still, despite Toronto scoring 60 points in the paint, which lies at least in part on Claxton’s shoulders, Fernández was complimentary of his starting center in postgame.

“I loved Nic’s purpose and effort, especially that first half. He was everywhere, I think he had 13 points and eight rebounds in the first half. I love how he rebounded and pushed and how active he was and how engaged, and that’s what I want to see. I want to see that engagement now that physically, he’s going to keep getting there, and playing with that consistent motor. That’s the Nic that I love and that the team needs.”

Still, Toronto seized control of the game late, as the Nets buried themselves by shooting 3-of-17 from three in the second half, a terrible additive to their poor defense. They were trailing by just a possession at the start of the fourth quarter, thanks to another nifty play from Russell…

…but their efforts soon fell apart. Without Cam Thomas, just off injury and resting the first night of a back-to-back, and with Toronto face-guarding Cam Johnson for the second half, Brooklyn needed more role players to step up, and it didn’t happen.

Keon Johnson shot just 6-of-18, Ben Simmons was an offensive non-factor, scoring two points on 1-of-6, Jalen Wilson shot 3-of-11, and Noah Clowney shot 2-of-5 before making a premature exit due to hard fall on his back.

Toronto ran away in what must have been a cathartic fourth quarter for them, building a 20-point lead before Day’Ron Sharpe and the Nets applied some window dressing.

Said Fernández: “We knew that this game was about fast break and points in the paint, and it ended up going that way. 33 fast-break points for them, 60 points the paint. Those go hand in hand, though, and we didn’t accomplish our plan. Other than that, you know, proud of the guys. I wanted to shoot a little bit more in the second half, the shots didn’t go in.”

Pragmatically, it was a strong loss for the Nets, now just four games behind Toronto in the race to the bottom, crucially keeping their hopes for top-5 lottery odds alive. D’Angelo Russell was just as fun to watch as he was the first time around, and Cam Johnson led the way with 24 points, continuing to stabilize his trade value.

This is the benefit of a season that isn’t about the season itself. Double-digit losses to bad teams like the Raptors don’t have to hurt so bad.

Final Score: Toronto Raptors 130, Brooklyn Nets 116

Injury Report

The injuries Brooklyn suffered on Wednesday, however, do hurt the soul, no matter the state of the franchise. Maxwell Lewis, who the Nets acquired in the Finney-Smith/Russell deal, checked into the game late, hit a three, and then suffered a brutal-looking knee injury after getting inadvertently tripped on his way up the court…

Just horrendous luck for a 22-year-old trying to make his way with a new team. Obviously, it’s too soon for an update on Lewis’ left knee, but Fernández spoke about him postgame anyway: “The toughest part of today is seeing one of your guys going down. You know, we’re all thinking about the kid Max. He, goes in, he’s ready to playm he makes a three, and we don’t know the extent of the injury, we’ll obviously do an MRI, but all our group is thinking about him, and we’re sending all positive energy.”

Brooklyn will also be sending positive energy to Noah Clowney, who took this hard fall at the end of the third quarter…

Clowney stayed on the ground for a minute or two, then walked gingerly to the locker room, from where he did not return. Wednesday was the first night of a back-to-back, so keep an eye out for Clowney’s status before Thursday’s game visiting the Milwaukee Bucks.

As mentioned, Cam Thomas missed Wednesday’s game, be he is expected to be full-go against Milwaukee, as the Nets deemed playing both ends of a back-to-back just off injury was a bridge too far for CT.

Jordi Fernández did not discuss Ben Simmons in postgame, but he still has not played in both ends of a back-to-back this season, and that likely won’t change on Thursday night.

Milestone Watch

• Nic Claxton’s 16-and-10 was good for his 69th career double-double, passing Bernard King for sole possession of 9th place in Nets NBA history in points/rebounds double-doubles. Next up is Keith Van Horn with 80.
• Claxton’s 13-point first half marked his high for any half this season.
• Though Keon Johnson didn’t shoot well, he still scored 17 points. That extended his career-best streak of double-digit scoring games to five.

Next Up

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Yep, again. On Thursday night, the Brooklyn Nets re-enter the border and play the Milwaukee Bucks, with tip-off set for 8:00 p.m. ET.

• Boxscore: Toronto Raptors 130, Brooklyn Nets 113 – NBA
• Game Highlights: Toronto Raptors 130, Brooklyn (Video) – NBA
• D’Angelo Russell talks about his return to the Nets (Video) – YES Network
• Jordi Fernández reacts to Nets’ loss in Toronto (Video) – YES Network
• Jordi Fernández Postgame Press Conference at Raptors (Video) – Brooklyn Nets
• Barnes scores 33, Quickley has 21 in return as Raptors beat Nets 130-113, snap 11-game slide – Ian Harrison – AP
• Scottie Barnes leads Raptors past Nets to end 11-game skid – Larry Fleisher – Reuters
• Nets thumped by hapless Raptors despite D’Angelo Russell’s big night in first game back – Brian Lewis – New York Post
• D’Angelo Russell opens up on Nets reunion after being traded by Lakers again – Brian Lewis – New York Post
• D’Angelo Russell sizzles off the bench in return to Nets, but fall to Raptors – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
• Nets trade acquisition suffers serious knee injury in first minutes of debut – Erik Slater – Clutch Points