The Brooklyn Nets lost 114-113 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at their 2023 home opener at Barclays Center.
Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, while newly signed Cavaliers forward Max Strus also scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, all on the defensive end.
The season just started, yet the Nets are already up to old tricks before Halloween. Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas turned in a highlight-reel performance with 36 points in the loss, but a scintillating outburst by Thomas often results in Nets loss. The Nets have had seven games where Thomas has scored more than 30 points, but they've only won two of them.
Brooklyn entered the season touting a strong defense as their identity, but one game in, and it seems that the Nets’ team identity has entered the witness protection program. The home team allowed Cleveland to shoot 65.2% from the field and 55.6% from the 3-point line in the first quarter, where they scored on drives to the hoop and bombs from deep. The Nets’ defensive rotations were slow, and closeouts on 3-point shooters were late.
The Nets’ starting five players mustered just 12 total points in the first quarter and if not for the instant offense of Cam Thomas off the bench, Brooklyn would have been in a heavy hole going into the second quarter.
The Nets tightened up in the second quarter, while their bench outscored the starters. Nets coach Jacque Vaughn went with a 10-player rotation for the entire game, with eight players logging more than 20 minutes and the bench outscoring the starters 55-48 for the game.
The return of Ben Simmons, who nearly had a double-double with 10 rebounds and 9 assists, was a positive sign, despite only playing for 22:59 minutes.
“You’ll see our minutes range across the board because we do have depth and versatility,” Vaughn said about the minute allotment. “Our guys won’t be 30-plus [minutes] a lot because we have to play extremely hard, and I don’t want them coasting.”
The Nets need to use that depth and versatility to implement their defensive identity, but they also need more scoring from their starting unit. Without strong ball movement great ball, 3-point shooting and an interior offensive presence needed to put opposing teams in foul trouble they will struggle to pull away from their opposition.
The game was tight from the tip, with both teams making first-half runs, and was knotted 63-63 at intermission. That set the stage for a fourth quarter that saw Brooklyn go up by 6 points with 1:24 left in the game, but in the end, it was the clutch play from Cavaliers superstar Mitchell that decided the game, as he sealed the deal with a 3-point dagger with 12.1 seconds on the clock.
The Nets called timeout but couldn’t generate a good look for small forward Mikael Bridges, which forced Thomas to take a wild, off-balance heave as the clock wound down.
It’s very early in the season and first-game jitters were on display for the Nets, who muffed passes and allowed Cleveland to break up dribble hand-offs on the perimeter, but in a league that is driven by stars, the Cavaliers have one in Mitchell and the Nets are trying to develop a star in Bridges, who scored 20 points.
The Nets will have another chance against the Mavericks on Friday night.
