The Nets won the Battle of the ‘Burbs Tuesday night and got within a win of .500 but Dariq Whitehead fell on his right leg and spent the rest of the game in crutches.
The Long Island Nets returned to the court on Tuesday night, hoping to stack wins as they make a push for a playoff spot. This time, Long Island found themselves in White Plains to take on the Westchester Knicks in a “Battle of the ‘Burbs” match-up.
Long Island came away with the gritty two-point win, 119-117 and celebrated Kendall Brown’s new two-way contract. But the big news coming out of this game was the loss of Dariq Whitehead. Early on in the second quarter, Whitehead took a hard foul and apparently injured his right leg. He remained in the game despite being in some obvious pain. But when the Nets came back on the court to begin the third, there was no sign of Whitehead.
Later, he was seen on the bench, but in crutches. The severity of his injury remains uncertain but Whitehead has had a series of foot and shin injuries that led to three surgeries between August 2022 and January 2024.
Whitehead was putting together a good game for himself before he went down. He picked up 10 points and connected on three of his six shot attempts, including hitting his one attempt from deep and both his attempts from the foul line. This comes two days after he had his G League high of 30 points.
If he’s healthy, Whitehead could play a pivotal role in their potential playoff push.
Meanwhile, Drew Timme had another lights-out performance against Westchester. Timme finished the game with 26 points, and 12 boards. The 6’10” 24-year-old connected on 12 of his 19 shot attempts but missed his 3-pointers. Timme continues to be just that, a double-double machine.
While Kendall Brown was signed to two-way contract for Brooklyn earlier in the day Timme continues to make a case for why he, too, should be in the NBA. He told NetsDaily last game that his driving force and motivation for all of these great performances was quite simple he “wants to be in the league.”
Long Island had a couple of unlikely players step up tonight in the absence of Tosan Evbuomwan and Reece Beekman and following Whitehead’s departure. Mark Armstrong, the 6’2” 21-year-old South Orange, N.J. native had a big game. Armstrong picked up 24 points, connecting on 11 of his 17 shot attempts, including two of four of his shot from three.
Tyson Etienne, himself a candidate for a two-way elsewhere in the NBA, had another big shooting night. The 6’2” 25-year-old finished with 20 points, shooting 7-of-15, including 6-of-11 from deep and handed out eight assists.
Perhaps the best performance of the night, though, came from Terry Roberts, the starting point guard for Long Island. Roberts finished the game with a triple-double, picking up 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Roberts also had three steals.
Brown who will remain with Long Island at least through Wednesday had a typical game of him with 17 points, nine boards and three assists.
The two teams opened the first quarter with close to 10 lead changes in the quarter. Despite keeping it close, Long Island dropped back at the end of the first and entered the second quarter down by seven. Long Island brought the game closer in the second and entered the half down by just three.
The third quarter continues to be the best one for Long Island as they took the lead and then some. The Nets entered the fourth quarter up by nine. After the two teams went back and forth one final time, but Long Island held on and picked up the gritty two-point win.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (10-11) return to the court on Thursday, as they look to get back to .500 and gear up for their playoff push, to take on the Austin Spurs.
While we don’t know if Dariq Whitehead will play, stay tuned to NetsDaily’s and Scott Mitchell’s Twitter for news on the Whitehead injury and more. The game tips off at noon ET and can be watched on ESPN+.