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Long Island Nets lose a raft of players and a game as season winds down

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Cleveland Charge v Long Island Nets
Photo by Luther Schlaifer/NBAE via Getty Images

Eliminated from the G League playoffs, the Long Island Nets sent five players to Brooklyn, brought three up and lost to the Cleveland Charge.

Things have changed at Nassau Coliseum since the Long Island Nets last played there more than a month ago.

They finished up their successful six-game stint as “Les Nets” in suburban Montreal early in March, were finally eliminated from the G League playoff picture Thursday night and five of their players are now playing in Brooklyn, two of them — Drew Timme and Tyson Etienne — making their NBA debuts last night. And two of their best players got hurt and are done for the season.

Some things remained the same on Friday night though when the Nets took on the Cleveland Charge in the front end of a back-to-back to end the season. Head coach Mfon Udofia continued to preach motivation to his players, regardless of how thin the team was and with only two games left. Still, at the end of the night, the new-look Long Island team fell to Cleveland, 121-114, with three new players.

Brooklyn called back Dariq Whitehead, brought up their three two-way players — Reece Beekman, Tosan Evbuomwan and Tyson Etienne — even signed Drew Timme to a two-year standard deal in a 24-hour period after Long Island was elimianted. They even had to add three players from the G League player pool Friday just to be able to field a team.

This meant a whole new starting five for Long Island…

Not only were five players at Barclays Center, but both Kendall Brown, himself a former two-way, and Killian Hayes who had a 10-day with Brooklyn, are injured and shut down for the final two games, Terry Roberts started in place of Hayes. Roberts was joined by Mark Armstrong, Trevon Scott, Kevin Obanor, and Jordan Minor to round things out.

Scott, a 6’8” 28-year-old basketball vagabond, got the start for Long Island tonight tied for the team lead in points with 22.

Scott had a decent game shooting the ball, connecting on 10 of his 22 shot attempts. Adding to his scoring game, Scott also flirted with a triple-double, picking up nine rebounds and seven assists, and had two steals to his credit.

Speaking with ND after the game, Scott had this to say about his performance. “It was just another G-League game,” says Scott, who’s played for six G League clubs including the Charge, during his career. “It started out as a completely different team. It just felt like another G-League game to me.”

Scott is someone who has developed quite a bit this season with Long Island. When asked about where he thinks he most improved, Scott told ND,

“What I improved the most with is my mental aspect of the game. I had certain things that I got better with mentally. My teammates have really helped me with that, and my coaching staff. Mentally I think I’ve grown the most by being here and that’s what I’m most impressed by.”

Chris Martin, one of the three new Nets, quickly made his presence felt. After playing for the Greensboro Swarm this season, the 6’2” guard tied Scott for the team lead in points with 22.

Martin, a Clark Atlanta University product, shot the ball very well, connecting on seven of his 14 shots, going six for nine from deep. The 26-year-old also picked up six rebounds, seven assists, and a steal.

Kevin Obanor, a 6’8” 25-year-old shooting guard, finished with a double-double, picking up 20 points and 19 rebounds. Obanor also was an on-ball pest, picking up three steals. This was Obanor’s best game as a Net, as he shot the ball very well, connecting on 10 of his 14 shots.

Obanor spoke with ND after the game.

“Staying ready, so I don’t have to get ready,” Obanor said. “The season has a lot of ups and downs. Last year, playing a lot, then this year, not playing five games then playing one game, so just being a professional and finishing out the season strong. Your last impression is your best impression.”

Obanor also spoke about where he thought he developed the most this season. “Mentally. We learned a lot of patience. A lot of growth in character. Basketball sooner or later is going to stop, you know? Just taking each trial and tribulation, and learning from it. At the end of the day, it’s just basketball. There’s a lot of tough things that are happening in the real world.”

Mark Armstrong, the youngest player on the Long Island roster at 21, started tonight after not playing the past few games. The 6’2” Villanova product finished with 16 points. Another of Long Island’s newest players, 6’9” Bryce Golden, finished with 15 points.

Long Island got off to a slow start in the first, showing signs of missing Timme, Whitehed, Brown, Hayes, Etienne, Evbuomwan, and Beekman. Despite fighting back , Cleveland led by 12 heading into the second. Cleveland again outscored Long Island in the second, 27-24, taking a 15-point lead into the half.

Long Island got back into the swing of things in the third quarter, outscoring Cleveland, 36-31. Cleveland still took a 10-point lead into the fourth. Long Island tried to battle back in the fourth, outscoring Cleveland, 34-31. However, this wasn’t good enough to get the win as Long Island fell to Cleveland by seven.

Cleveland was led by Nae’Qwan Tomlin’s 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting with 10 rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Luke Travers scored 22 with 17 rebounds, eight assists and two blocks.

Long Island’s record is now 17-16 with one game left.

Next Up

The Long Island Nets (17-16) wrap up their season Saturday night against the Cleveland Charge (15-18) on their home court. 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.