Long Island Nets fall to Greensboro Swarm, 104-98 without Killian Hayes, Oshae Brisset

Sean Marks was in attendance Wednesday for the Long Island Nets return home, but two key players weren’t. Long Island back at .500.

The Long Island Nets returned to the court on Wednesday night to face the Greensboro Swarm live from the Nassau Coliseum but the locals were without two of their top stars, Killian Hayes and Oshae Brissett.

Hayes has arguably been the best player that Long Island has to offer, as he has tied, and has been getting close to his NBA G-League career-high of 28 points Long Island’s recent games. He sat with an illness not further described.

Brissett came to Long Island on January 17th, when he was claimed off of waivers. Brissett has been to the mountaintop in the NBA, reaching and winning the NBA Championships with the Boston Celtics last season. Brissett has hamstring soreness.

Being without both could be a recipe for disaster for any NBA G-League team and particularly the Nets. In addition to being reliable offensive players, they’re arguably the two best defenders on the Long Island roster.

Both Hayes and Brissett are TBA for Long Island’s next game against the Motor City Cruise on Saturday.

Despite being without the two, Long Island managed to keep it close against one of the G-League’s better teams. This came largely from the play of Drew Timme who finished with yet another double-double for his new team.

Timme finished the game fourth in points on the team with 16. He connected on eight of his 14 shots, but he missed his only attempts both from deep and at the free-throw line. Timme also picked up 11 rebounds and seven assists both of which led the team in Hayes’s absence.

However, Timme’s game wasn’t flawless. He also led the team with seven turnovers, accounting for nearly half of Long Island’s 16 total turnovers.

Tyson Etienne once again led the team in points with 22, as he hit three out of his six attempts from deep.

Kendall Brown was second on the team with 19 points, as he continued his great shooting, connecting on 9 out of his 16 attempts.

Despite only connecting on three out of his 14 attempts, Dariq Whitehead still managed to finish the game with 12 points, as he went perfect from the free-throw line. Whitehead finished three-for-three from the line, picking up six points.

Long Island got off to a very slow start in the first quarter. Greensboro was able to use this to their advantage and finish the quarter with a five-point lead. By the time halftime came around, Greensboro widened their lead to seven points as Long Island was outscored, 32-30.

The Long Island Nets turned it around in the third quarter, once again finding their groove. They outscored Greensboro, 25-22, in the third quarter, entering the fourth down by only two. Despite the fourth quarter being a battle by both teams, Long Island fell to Greensboro by six points, another close one.

Greensboro center Reggie Perry, a Brooklyn Nets late second round pick in 2020, posted 31 points, 16 rebounds, one assist and one block in 30 minutes. Charlotte assignee Tidjane Salaun recorded 23 points, six rebounds and one assist in 34 minutes.

Kendall Brown Is a Hidden Gem

For a good portion of the season, Kendall Brown has been a “hidden gem” for the Long Island Nets. As we approached the season, all of the hype was around Hayes, Whitehead, T.J. Lawson and Jacky Cui, but not much around Brown, who played part of the last two seasons with the Indiana Pacers. But Brown has shown everyone with his play exactly why he is the hidden gem of the Long Island Nets season.

“Just coming in and being consistent and doing whatever I can do to help the team win,” says Brown when asked about his performances this year. “Being aggressive at the rim and using the best of my abilities to help my teammates score and be better.”

For Brown, it is very important to get his teammates involved. While Killian Hayes leads the team in assists, Brown has averaged nearly assists a game along with 17.2 points and 5.1 rebounds.

“It’s big,” says Brown when asked about the importance of getting his teammates involved. “The ball has energy. Getting teammates easy looks and easy shots will just help everyone. As a player, you want the same thing, so just starting that energy is big.”

The 21-year-old 6’7” wing’s biggest contribution. In 25 games, he’s shooting 66.1% from inside the arc and 40.7% from outside it.

Dariq Whitehead on Long Island vs. Brooklyn

On Tuesday, it was announced that the Brooklyn Nets have once again assigned Dariq Whitehead to Long Island. Whether it’s a short term stay or for the foreseeable future is uncertain. One thing we do know for sure is that he’s taking some of the tips he learned in Brooklyn and using them down on the Island.

“It’s different,” says Whitehead when asked about how he’s able to implement when Jordi Fernandez teaches him down on the Island. “You have Jordi preaching ‘shoot the ball, shoot the ball.’ Down here you have more of a drive and get to the basket mindset, so it’s kind of different.”

“I try to take the same defensive principles and add them to my game, but when it comes to offense it’s two different styles of play.”

Sean Marks and Long Island GM Matt MacDonald sat together at Nassau Coliseum, but there no word who he was there to see.

Next Up

The Long Island Nets (6-6) return to the court on Saturday, February 1st, as they travel to Detroit to take on the Motor City Cruise. The game tips off at 1:00 p.m. ET and can be watched on Tubi, as well as on the Motor City Facebook Live.

• Boxscore: Greensboro Swarm 104, Long Island Nets