Long Island loses another tough one without two-days but with the flu bug.
The Long Island Nets were once again without their three two-way players Monday night —Tyrese Martin, Reece Beekman, and Tosan Ebuomwan — Monday night. They were with the big club getting ready for the game against Houston Tuesday night.
They were also without two of their own best players, Killian Hayes and Drew Timme, who are both dealing with an illness, reportedly a flu they picked up on their recent trip to Montreal.
Oshae Brissett, the newest Net, was dealing with hamstring soreness. And Dariq Whitehead, who was back after missing a game with the flu, didn’t look much like himself.
Woe is we.
So, Long Island was down big to start and after a hard-foot game vs. the Birmingham Squadron at Nassau Coliseum, they wound up on the losing end, 117-113.
With all the injuries that Long Island currently is dealing with, it was time for the “next man up” mentality to come into play and that’s exactly what we saw tonight from first-year local tryout pick, 6’8” 24-year-old Jordan Minor. Minor had big shoes to fill with Timme out, and he lived up to the expectations.
Minor finished the game leading the team in points with 30 and rebounds with 13. Minor finished the game with a double-double and picked up two assists and one steal in the process. However, Minor wasn’t the only Net who had a big game.
Tyson Etienne also continued his tough play, coming off his career-high 43-point performance against the Motor City Cruise. He finished Monday’s game with 29 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. If that’s not already impressive, he also had four steals and two blocks.
Mark Armstrong, the 6’2” 20-year-old from South Orange, N.J. and Kendall Brown, Long Island’s most reliable player all season long, each picked up 18 points each. Armstrong got the start tonight, and Brown came close to a double-double, also picking up 8 rebounds.
Whitehead returned to the court after dealing with an illness and finished the game with eight points, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Whether still affected by the flu or not, he was only able to connect on two of his 13 field goal attempts, including missing all five from deep.
The 3-point shot proved to be Long Island’s Achilles heel tonight. They finished the game hitting just six of their 29 shots from beyond the arc. The biggest culprits for that came in Whitehead and Tre Scott who missed all of his six attempts from deep.
On a brighter note, Long Island got a little bit healthier. Hayes returned to the bench for the first time since the team got home from Canada. Hayes wasn’t able to even be on the bench the previous couple of games, so things seem to be trending in the right direction for him.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams that got tied twice. In the end, the Long Island Nets trailed the Birmingham Squadron 33-24 entering the second. Long Island shot the ball well in the second coming close, but Birmingham held the lead entering the half as Long Island now trailed by 12.
The third quarter proved to be Long Island’s best quarter as they outscored Birmingham, 36-21, behind Mark Armstrong who had 12 points. Long Island took a three-point lead into the fourth. Unfortunately, they were outscored, 37-30, in the fourth, which helped Birmingham come away with the win.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (6-8) look to get back on track on Wednesday night as they travel back to Montreal to play their third Canadian home game against the Greensboro Swarm. 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.