New two-way Tosan Evbuomwan made his debut in a Long Island Nets uniform Friday and almost stole the show with 39 points but the news was Long Island ended a 12-game losing streak.
The Long Island Nets returned to the court on Friday night for their second game of the regular season against the Grand Rapids Gold in Grand Rapids. and to show off a new look, led by two-way signing 6’7” Tosan Evbuomwan
And new it was. Long Island, who hasn’t won a game since November 23 — before Thanksgiving (!) picked up a decisive victory over Grand Rapids, 129-108, ending an 11-game losing streak.
Dominant performances came from just about all of their starters. All of them finished the game playing between 30 and 40 minutes, and all finished scoring in double-digits. Killian Hayes, in fact, recorded his second triple double of the season with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Hayes even managed to pick up six steals alongside his already impressive stat sheet. Another newcomer, 6’10” Evan Timme nearly picked up his own triple-double with 23 points 10 assists and nine boards.
However, the player who led the charge was Tosan Evbuomwan who finished the game with 39 points in his debut with Long Island. He also grabbed five rebounds, handed out two assists, hit 13-of-30 overall and 3-of-4 from deep while finishing with a game-high +/- of 31.
Three days ago, on New Year’s Day, Brooklyn announced that Evbuomwan, who averaged 7.0 points a game last year for the Detroit Pistons, had been signed to a two-year, two-way contract. He had been playing for the San Diego Clippers, where he was averaging 17.7 points and 7.0 boards. Jaylen Martin, who’s played on a two-way the last two seasons was cut. It was a bit of an interesting move at the time considering how well Martin had been playing. However, Evbuomwan has so far proven whatever doubters he had were wrong on Friday night.
Evbuomwan’s old coach from his time at Princeton described Evbuomwan as someone who “sees the floor well, and makes others around him better.” His performance on Friday night was a prime example of why that’s true. This was Long Island’s first win in over a month, and his teammates all seemed to play better with him on the court.
Hayes performed great in just about every aspect of the game (other than deep shooting where was 2-of-7. ) He even managed to get up there with guys who were taller than him and haul down some rebounds. Hayes told NetsDaily recently about how important it is to him to get his teammates involved, and Friday night’s game was a prime example of why that’s true.
Drew Timme in two games is averaging 23.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists He connected on 11 of his 18 shots and was a paint machine for Long Island.
Despite being a little bit overlooked by the strong performances of his fellow starters, Kendall Brown had a big game. He picked up 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots. While Tyson Etienne finished with 10 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
This was a dominant win for Long Island that started with the play of their starters. The bench didn’t provide much, however, head coach Mfon Udofia decided to ride with the starters for a majority of the game, not allowing the bench to provide much to the stat sheet.
In the first quarter, the Long Island Nets quickly got off to a hot start, putting up 32 points, and finishing the quarter with a near 10-point lead. The Nets shot 60% from the field in the first, and it showed on the scoreboard. Heading into the half, Grand Rapids made it closer, but Long Island held on to the six-point lead.
The game stood close through the third quarter, as Long Island was able to maintain their six-point lead heading into the fourth. However, when the fourth came around, Long Island was able to break the game wide open and end up winning the game by 21.
Overall, the Nets posted a scorching 59.8% from the field, including 40.0% from beyond the arc. Despite the Gold’s bench outscoring the Nets’ reserves 22-11, Long Island’s paint dominance (72-40) and points off turnovers (19-12) proved decisive.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets, now 1-1 in the regular season, return to the Nassau Coliseum on Monday night, January 6th, when they face the Sioux Falls Skyforce. The game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET, and can be watched on the NBA G-League and Long Island Nets respective websites, as well as the YES App.