It wasn’t enough that the Brooklyn Nets played the Golden State Warriors, the number 1 seed in the Western Conference, in the second game on Monday night. No, after the night after, they needed an even bigger challenge Backup a fantastic, gutsy win for head coach Jordi Fernández on his return to Sacramento.

Half of Brooklyn’s rotation was unavailable against the Dubs, meaning they had ten players available. That includes two-way players Tyrese Martin and Dariq Whitehead, who boarded a flight from Toronto to the Bay Area early Monday morning just to be available. (For a complete listing, see the injury report below.)

Also Brooklyn’s five (literally) the tallest players were unavailable, so there was no player who even remotely resembled a center. In fact, they were lucky to be able to field ten players: the game decisions about Dennis Schröder and Trendon Watford went their way.

Still, Fernández and the Nets were up for the challenge; Before tipoff, the head coach said, “These are games you never forget.”

“I just want our guys to be extremely confident on the court, play really, really hard, do the things we do, pressure the ball, shoot it when you’re open, make a pass, touch. ” the color. Whether we’re 8, 9, 10 or 11, we play all of those things the same way.”

Lo and behold, Brooklyn played the same way all season. Just like in Sacramento, they drove, kicked and shot, making eight three-pointers in the first quarter, their most this season. Unsurprisingly, Golden State Cam Thomas doubled on almost every ball screen he used, and the Nets thrived…

Then things got even worse for Brooklyn when Cam Johnson stepped on Draymond Green’s foot and rolled his ankle. Curiously, the coaching and medical staff had Johnson tough in the final seven minutes of the second quarter, even though Johnson hobbled up and down without attempting a single shot during that period.

While this became a long-term concern for Brooklyn, a short-term concern also emerged in the second quarter: They couldn’t stop the Warriors.

Golden State not only scored 30 points in the paint in the first half, but also shot 12 of 27 from long range. Add a single free throw and you’ve got the total score. Yes, Steph Curry hit his first three triples, but it hurt even more to watch Golden State’s role players go, from Lindy Waters III to Moses Moody. These two were the team’s top scorers at halftime.

Things went from bad to worse at the start of the third quarter, despite Cam Thomas’ best chances to score…

Thomas finished the game 23/3/1 on 6 of 11 shooting and numerous free throws, and honestly, the low assist total was a result of a bit of bad luck, along with Golden State’s two-strength defense.

Hey, every blowout needs a silver lining, right? Because when Brooklyn took a timeout with more than seven minutes left in the third period, trailing 86-68, it was Thomas’ only performance. No one could blame the Nets for the circumstances they faced, and a competitive half of basketball equates to a solid performance under the circumstances.

Before the game, Steve Kerr said Fernández was “a really good coach, you can see that in the way they play,” and that nothing had changed in two and a half quarters.

Then Fernández showed why he could be a truly special coach. The Brooklyn Nets did the unthinkable by trading Cam Thomas and already dealt Cam Johnson. They came back to defeat the No. 1 team in the West. An 18-point deficit at first glance, especially in an NBA saturated with 3-point shooting, isn’t something impossible to overcome, but these Nets at this point? Does a single adjective describe this kind of victory?

It started defensively. From the 7:34 mark of the third to the 1:54 mark of the fourth, nearly 18 minutes of play, Brooklyn allowed just 24 points. The Warriors had a perfect offense, shooting everything from the rim or from three lines and making a fair number of those attempts. Then. In no time, the Nets made them look incompetent for a quarter and a half.

But not just any Nets, but guys like Shake Milton, Keon Johnson, Jalen Wilson and Ziaire Williams got the job done…

The offense never really went away for Brooklyn, but a few untimely turnovers and missed shots allowed Golden State to create the 86-68 cushion. This turned out to be a mirage; Drive, kick, shoot, up to 20 of 45 from deep, all nine Nets made at least one 3-pointer (Whitehead didn’t play).

Better yet, Brooklyn took advantage of every single opportunity Golden State gave them, forcing 13 turnovers that led to a whopping 26 points as the Nets showed us, perhaps for the first time this season, what their ideal pace really is.

On the other hand, the Warriors turned over Brooklyn a dozen times, but scored a comparatively paltry 12 points on those occasions.

All of these stats are team stats for a reason. We could list the individual performances and still fill this article with Jalen Wilson playing 41 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back game, or Trendon Watford scoring every shot in the fourth game, or Shake Milton’s season-high 13 points, or even Tyrese Martin, who had a nice little performance in the first half.

And yet, because Cam Thomas didn’t play after being substituted midway through the third period (Fernández attributed that to the flow of the game and the load Thomas had been carrying lately), much of the offensive burden fell on Dennis Schröder’s shoulders.

He responded with 17 points and four assists… in the fourth damn quarter…

On a night when everyone was shining, Dennis was the brightest star.

When the possessions ran out, he went for buckets. When he wasn’t, he played in the flow of the offense, making catch-and-shoot threes or driving in the lane. He even picked on Steph Curry all over the field every chance he could.

Fernández said: “He took control of the game, took control of the leadership and put everyone in the right place on both ends of the field, and that’s the kind of leadership like having a coach on the field.” And When something like that happens, I just let him do his thing, and if he has a question for me, I try to give him an answer.”

On a night like Monday, it feels like the Nets are the greatest — or at least most compelling — 8-10 team of all time in the NBA. We already knew that her “tough” and “competitive” identity isn’t a cliché, but then what is? How many Nets teams did you root for that were capable of this win? Think about it.

Then think about whether you’ll remember that win in May while you’re sweating over those damn ping pong balls. Will you regret the fight shown by Jordi Fernández’s team on a random Monday evening in San Francisco, six months earlier? Will you curse the effort Wilson made, the shots Schröder made, the bruises Williams gave himself on the Chase Center floor?

Don’t let the answer be “yes,” I implore you. On November 25, 2024, the Brooklyn Nets are a great team despite an 8-10 record and no hope of a title game. Isn’t that something?

Final score: Brooklyn Nets 128, Golden State Warriors 120

Injury report

All right, ready?

Let’s start with the most concerning absence: Nic Claxton. Brooklyn’s $100 million man did not appear on the initial injury report but was listed as doubtful and was unavailable late Monday afternoon. Worse, it was “back pain” that stopped him; On Sunday night, Claxton returned after three games after suffering an epidural injection in his lower back.

When asked about the condition of his starting center before the game, Fernández gave an interesting answer: “I think in professional sports, especially in this league, a lot of these guys play with bumps and bruises. What we need is for them to believe that they will be okay. And if we feel that someone doesn’t have self-confidence, we let them make the decision, I think that’s fair. If you’re playing and you’re afraid of getting hurt, guess what? You will get hurt. So we don’t want that for Nic or anyone in our group… And that’s where we are right now with Nic, he felt it again, his awareness of his back.”

Certainly it seems like something that won’t fade away anytime soon. Elsewhere:

• We saw Noah Clowney sprain his left ankle in Sacramento on Sunday night; On Monday, Jordi Fernández said that the skinny sophomore had an MRI scan of the ankle in question, but there were no results yet.
• It wasn’t a surprise that Dorian Finney-Smith missed Monday’s game with a left ankle sprain, but rather a planned absence. DFS has been nursing this injury throughout November, and Fernández said he is “still open” for Brooklyn’s next game.
• Ben Simmons’ absence was also planned, as his current inability to play back-to-back is time-tested injury management.
• Day’Ron Sharpe and Bojan Bogdanović are without updates for the time being.
• Cam Johnson was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain; No updates were available immediately after the game.

Next

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

The Brooklyn Nets face Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, meeting an old friend to cap off their four-game road trip. (Notable: Durant is expected to return Tuesday night from a two-week injury layoff, so he may not be available for Phoenix-Brooklyn.) Tipoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET.