The flu continues to take its toll on the Long Island Nets as they once again played out with perhaps their two best players in suburban Montreal. losing this one in OT.
The Long Island Nets returned to Montreal on Wednesday night for a showdown with the Greensboro Swarm. While this game was close throughout, Long Island choked away aonce rather commanding lead and fell to the Swarm in OT, 117-116 before 5,563 fans at Place Bell in suburban Laval, Quebec.
Once again, Long Island Nets was without Killian Hayes, Drew Timme, both still out with the flu and Oshae Brissett, still recovering from a hamstring issue as well as their three two-way players — Tyrese Martin, Reece Beekman, Tosan Evbuomwan- -who are still with the big club in Brooklyn.
This game was wild from the very start. At times the Nets looked dominant, but at the very end found themselves down by three with under five seconds left. Trevon Scott played hero as he nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game and force an overtime. It was Scott’s first three of the game after three misses,
Scott, the 6’8” 28-year-old, finished the game with 17 points, shooting the ball very well —connecting on seven of his 12 shots. He also picked up 10 rebounds to secure a double-double. To add to his impressive stat sheet, Scott also picked up two assists and one steal.
Perhaps the most impressive player of the game, however, was Jordan Minor. Minor, a 6’8” local tryout, finished the game with 18 points and a whopping 17 rebounds, securing himself another double-double. His rebounding was a big reason Long Island kept the game close and was a new career high.
In place of Drew Timme, Minor mended a bit of the damage as he has been playing well as the team’s fill-in big man. To add to his already impressive stat sheet, Minor also registered a block and an one assist in 42.
Kendall Brown led the team in points tonight, picking up 23, one of four Nets with 20+ points. Brown shot the ball well, sinking eight of his 13 attempts, including making all three of his attempts from deep. The 6’7” 21-year-old wing came close to a double-double, picking up seven rebounds in the process. He also had four assists, two steals, and one block.
Mark Armstrong, filling in for Hayes, had another strong showing, as the 20-year-old Villanova product finished second on the team with 21 points. Armstrong hit 8-of-19 overall and 1-of-3 from deep. He also recorded four assists in 39 minutes.
Tyson Etienne also had a great game shooting the ball from deep, as he finished with 21 points. In his last four games, the 6’2” 25-year-old has averaged 28.8 a game. In his team-leading 47 minutes, Etienne shot 4-of-6 from deep and 6-of-18 overall,. In those four games, the Englewood, N.J. native has shot 16-of-28 — 57.1% — from deep.
Dariq Whitehead had a much better showing here tonight than he did in the last game. Whitehead, who has also been affected by the flu, finished the game with 13 points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He made five of his 11 shots, including going 1-of-4 from deep. Whitehead did struggled at the foul line, only connecting on one of his three attempts.
In the first quarter, Long Island struggled a great deal shooting the ball, only hitting six of their first 20 shots. The second quarter saw Long Island perform much better, taking a six-point lead into the half. They outscored Greensboro, 36-26, on 45.2 percent shooting from the field and 40.0 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Long Island maintained their lead, albeit close, in the third as they were able to go into the fourth up by five. They shot 52.6% from the field and 62.5% from deep. The fourth was where it all began to fall apart for Long Island. The lead they once was gone and by the very end Long Island found themselves down by three. Tre Scott tied the game with under five seconds left to force overtime.
When overtime came around, the target score in the Elam Ending was 117 to win. It was a back-and-forth duel, which saw Jordan Minor pick up four of the team’s points, and Tyson Etienne score a pair. Unfortunately, Long Island would go on to lose this very close game by one point.
Greensboro center Reggie Perry, a Nets second round pick in 2020, posted 26 points and 13 rebounds to go along with four assists, one steal and one block in 36 minutes. Swarm guard Marcus Garrett added 21 points, three rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (6-9) enjoy a two-day break before getting back on the court in Montreal on Saturday afternoon, as they welcome former Nets two-way Jaylen Martin and the Delaware Blue Coats. The game is the third of six “home” games Long Island will play at Place Bell as part of the BSE Global’s international marketing plan to help develop a fanbase in French-speaking Canada … and help Montreal promote itself as a potential NBA market.
The game tips off at 3:00 p.m. ET and can be watched on the NBA G-League and Long Island Nets respective websites.