What a week it was for Jordi Fernandez. Injuries began to pile up on Sunday in Sacramento, but his group remained confident in the healthy players it did have. Brooklyn responded with three straight victories over the Kings , Warriors and Suns to end their latest West Coast swing on a shockingly high note.
While the season is still young, an argument can be made that no head coach in the NBA has done more with less this season. The first-year head coach has exceeded all expectations despite Brooklyn’s flawed situation. As the kids say, he has been deep in his bag, and each player on the roster has benefited from his leadership.
However, the Nets ‘ shorthanded sorcery was nullified in Friday’s 123-100 loss to the Orlando Magic at Barclays Center. Brooklyn played without two of its primary creators in Cam Thomas and Dennis Schröder. While Orlando did not have the luxury of a healthy Paolo Banchero , their superior depth shined through.
One of the Nets’ worst losses of the season came at the hands of this same Magic team on Oct. 25, 116-101. Not having Thomas or Schröder in the lineup did not appear to be an issue early on.
Jalen Wilson, in his third start of the season, started 3-of-3 from 3-point range. The Net started 5-for-7 from deep as a team, scoring was balanced across the board, and despite 13 first-quarter points from Orlando’s Franz Wagner, they trailed by only four points entering the second and were shooting 63.2% from the field.
Ball movement and unse.
