The Nets threw haymakers with the defending champions on Friday but feel short in overtime. Twenty-four hours later, on the second night of a back-to-back, they found themselves in a classic shootout with the same Cleveland Cavaliers who beat the Golden State Warriors into submission.
Jordi Fernandez’s team impressed in another inspired performance, but late-game lapses yielded similar results. The Cavaliers overcame Brooklyn’s best shot and held on to win 105-100 inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. In the midst of a franchise-best start under ex-Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, they improved to 11-0 and remain the only unbeaten team in the league.
“After I got fired in Brooklyn, I was like, man, you know, you’re a little taken aback,” Atkinson told reporters ahead of the game. And then you’re like, okay, how do we how do we turn this into…how can I get better? And, luckily I felt like I’ve made the right decisions.”
After falling behind by 15 points with 6:28 left in the first half, Brooklyn, now losers of two straight, responded with a ridiculous 30-5 run that stretched deep into the third quarter. The Nets outscored Cleveland 27-13 in the third quarter, their biggest margin in any quarter this season (+14) and limited them to just 13 points, the fewest in any quarter this season.
Cleveland did not score its first points of the third quarter until Evan Mobley threw down a dunk 7:16 left.
However, similar to Friday’s overtime loss Boston, the Nets ran out of gas late and were outplayed down the stretch. The Cavaliers outscored them 35-18 in the final frame and ended the game on a 16-14 run.
“How you open the game and how you finish the game,” Fernandez said. “So once again we got to be better. I have to be better with giving those guys breaks so they feel fresh at the end.”
The Nets enjoyed three 20-point scorers for the second time this season in the loss: Dennis Schröder (22), Cam Thomas (22) and Cam Johnson (23). Schröder has contributed 20 points in three straight games and has now scored 199 points this season, his second-highest total through 10 games in his career.
Thomas matched a season high with six assists and has now dished out at least six in two of his last three starts. And Johnson has now scored at least 20 points in his first 10 games of 2024-25 after having six such games in 58 appearances last season.
“It’s my fault,” Fernandez said. “I ran Dennis 12 minutes in the 4th. I didn’t give him a break. That’s how your execution goes down; that’s how your defense goes down. I didn’t give Cam breaks. At the end we paid for it. So, I have to be better”
Mobley led the Cavaliers with 23 points and Donovan Mitchell added 22 points. Cleveland shot 54.1% from the field, scored 56 points in the paint and scored 26 points off 20 Brooklyn turnovers.
The Nets will finish their current three-game road trip on Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
“We have to stick with it, and we have to keep chasing that goal and not dropping our heads,” Johnson said.
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