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Brooklyn Nets vs. Portland Trail Blazers preview: Battle of rebuilds

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Portland Trail Blazers vs Washington Wizards
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Since the last time the two teams met last month — a Nets blowout win, the Blazers have gone on a bit of streak and are now looking at the post-season.

It has possibilities but as so often happens in the NBA, talent and particularly young talent carries the day, as it did Wednesday night when the Brooklyn Nets held off the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder for three quarters, only to get blown out in the fourth. The Nets biggest potential upset became another moral victory.

There a ton of positives if you leave aside the final score. As our Lucas Kaplan wrote Thursday, and discussed with Sarah Kustok on the Backcourt podcast, Day’Ron Sharpe has “arrived” with a stat line that only Victor Wembanyama has matched this season: 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting, include 2-of-3 from beyond the arc; 15 rebounds including 7 offensive; 5 assists; 3 blocks and two steals.

Not only did Sharpe arrive but Killian Hayes returned, hitting for 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting including 5-of-10 from deep; 7 assists and two rebounds. His 6.0 assists per game in the first four games of his 10-day deal leads the team.

Small samples but encouraging nonetheless for the two 23-year-olds.

The Nets got nice efforts from a few others: Cam Johnson had 19 and Ziaire WIlliams 18. Moreover, in the first half, they shredded the Thunder’s vaunted defense, scoring 76 points. Alas, the Thunder found their way and won. Like we said, a moral victory but as the legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp once said, a moral victory is like kissing your sister.

Where To Watch

Check out the action at 7:30 p.m. ET on the YES Network and NBA League Pass.

Injuries

Here’s where it gets interesting for Nets and their fans. Cam Thomas, the Nets leading scorer (24.7 points) will be available after sitting for two months with a hamstring strain. And in another piece of good news, Dariq Whitehead’s diagnosis after a bad fall in a Long Island Nets game is only right knee soreness not as feared something worse. And Nic Claxton’s one-day suspension is over.

Still, the Nets remain a bit undermanned with Noah Clowney and D’Angelo Russell (both ankle sprains,) DeAnthony Melton (torn ACL) and the aforementioned Whitehead out with injuries. Two of the Nets three two-ways, Tosan Evbuoumwan and Kendall Brown, remain in Long Island.

For the Blazers, Robert Williams (knee) is out while Deni Avdija (quad) and Jerami Grant (knee) are questionable.

The Game

When last the two teams met, back on January 15, the Nets broke a five game losing streak in dramatic fashion, doing a number on the Blazers, 132-114. But the Blazers had a big saving grace. Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 pick back in 2023, finally had the game Blazer fans — and front office — were hoping for, scoring 39 points on 13-of-18 shooting, including 8-of-10 from deep. Breakout doesn’t begin to tell story. Relief does.

Since then Portland has played well, going 13-7 with wins over Bucks, Suns (twice) and Timberwolves. They’ve won their last three on their East Coast road trip and are four and a half out of the final play-in spot with 24 to play. Difficult but doable. Henderson hasn’t matched his performance vs. the Nets but is shooting better than 40% from deep. Progress.

Portland in fact is falling away in the Tankathon ratings, dropping to 10th in lottery odds, four and a half games behind the Nets.

For the home team, they’ve gone 7-11 since visiting Portland. They’ve lost two in a row and memories of their 7-2 streak are fading, but you never know with this group. Seeing Cam Thomas is always good news. He’s been out so long in fact that three of his teammates — Tosan Evbuomwan, Killian Hayes and Kendall Brown — weren’t even on the Nets roster the last time he took to the court and two others — D’Angelo Russell and Maxwell Lewis — made their Nets debut in his last game and January 2. Hamstrings can be tricky. Thomas in fact has played only two games since Thanksgiving. Will he be on m

Player to Watch

If you’re basketball fan and weren’t on a camping trip or otherwise beyond the reach of social media (that sounds like fun!), you couldn’t miss this week’s delicious piece of video…

Dunk of the year? Hard to disagree. Indeed, in the NBA’s Dunk Scores, Sharpe’s dunk was ranked second for the year, behind only Quentin Grimes slam against the Celtics in January, but Sharpe’s ranks first this season for jump, third for power.

But Sharpe is more than an athletic freak. He has been carrying the Blazers along with Anfernee Hardaway in their recent streak. The 6’5” 21-year-old wing is averaging 17.3 points a game on 45/34/78 shooting splits. Did we note that he’s only 21. We did.

Still, fans at Barclays Center will be watching him more tonight for his derring-do and why not?. As Paul Navarre of our SBNation sister site, Blazer’s Edge notes, no matter how you measure Sharpe’s dunks, he’s at or near the top.

What would you say if I told you that Sharpe made the list twice? Would you be surprised? Of course not. How about three times? You’re a Blazers fan, you’d buy that. Well, friends, you are thinking too small. Shaedon Sharpe has four of the five of the top verticals this season, including number one, a one-handed alley-oop finish against Jazz on December 6, measuring a staggering 45.1 inches.

The only human not named Shaedon Sharpe to make the list was Ja Morant, who took second place at 43.8 inches.

Here’s the visual proof…

Will the Nets defense be able to keep him down to Earth … literally?

From the Vault

Thinking of athleticism and the rivalry between Nets and Blazers, there’s one name that jumps to the top of everyone’s list: Buck Williams who earlier this month was named a finalist for the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Williams split his career between New Jersey and Portland, Williams spent the first eight seasons of his 17-year career with the New Jersey Nets (1981-89) before being traded to Portland, where he helped lead the Trail Blazers to NBA Finals appearances in 1990 and 1992. (If he makes it, he’ll be the second Hall of Famer to split their careers between New Jersey and Portland. The other went from West to East: Drazen Petrovic.)

Here’s a 27-minute tribute of Williams including his play for both teams.

More reading: Blazers’ Edge and SBNation NBA.