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Nets coach Jordi Fernández said preseason games may not count, but they matter. They’re less about wins and losses but playing hard and well.
The Nets’ preseason finale was their first defeat, beaten 144-128 by Miami before a sellout crowd of 19,600 at Kaseya Center.
And tuneup or no, there were plenty of positives, negatives and questions to be taken from Wednesday night.
The good?
Michael Porter Jr.’s game-high 27 points on 4-for-8 shooting from deep. And some of the youth, from rookie Mikel Brown Jr.’s 15-point preseason debut to sophomores Egor Dëmin (17 points on 4-for-7 from deep, three assists, two steals) and Nolan Traore (12 points, five assists).
The bad?
All-Star Julius Randle (4-for-13, game-worst minus-19) and veteran Moritz Wagner (minus-13 in 22 minutes). And Porter’s lone rebound won’t cut it.
And the downright ugly?
Defending the paint and protecting the rim. The Nets never came close to doing either.
“[The problem was] just defense. I mean, it was a very poor defensive game,” Fernández admitted. “[It’s the] second time that we’ve given up in one half 70 points — 69 in the first half, 75 in the second. That’s unacceptable. And if we want to be a competitive team, we have to play better defense than that.”
The Nets — who finished preseason 3-1 — were outscored a staggering 62-38 in the paint, allowing 31-for-40 shooting. Much of that was a combination of Heat star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s dominance and Day’Ron Sharpe’s early foul trouble.
The first may well have led to the other.
Antetokounmpo finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks, a plus-15 in just 23 minutes. He may have been one dime shy of a triple-double, but was plenty good enough to be the deciding factor Wednesday.
The Nets tried to attack the paint early with Miami’s Bam Adebayo out, but their own rim protection was far more lacking.
Sharpe picked up three quick first-quarter fouls in just 4:49, and Antetokounmpo had his way. The Nets failed to pick him up early, and let him get a head of steam. They ended up paying for it, falling behind by as much as 13.
The Nets watched Antetokounmpo pile up 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks by halftime, when they trailed 69-66.
Porter was on fire throughout, but Dëmin catching fire helped the Nets erase a double-digit deficit into a brief third-quarter lead.
Brief.
Dëmin’s assist to Sharpe put the Nets up 76-75. And his 3-pointer off a Porter feed gave them an 84-83 edge with 7:12 left in the third.
But the Nets coughed up 10 unanswered and never recovered.
Davion Mitchell needed six stitches on his face after he fell into Sharpe’s knee to open the third.