You will hear the words “tank” and “lottery” endlessly this upcoming Brooklyn Nets season, often from yours truly. But preseason basketball is the time to dream. At about 9:00 a.m. ET, I nearly spilled coffee on myself after watching Michael Porter Jr. make perhaps the nicest pass of his career…
The Brooklyn Nets tipped off their second preseason game — their first against NBA competition — just as the sun settled into the East Coast sky. Most Nets fans were thousands of miles away from the action, taking place in the autonomous Chinese region of Macao. The Brooklyn Nets, facing off with Phoenix Suns on both Friday and Sunday, were participating in the NBA’s first visit to China in six years, and they gave the fans over a show.
It wasn’t just Michael Porter Jr.‘s promising start, not even (just) Cam Thomas, who cruised to 18/6/3 in the first half alone…
It was Brooklyn’s high-octane (seriously) offense, which made their first ten shots of the game. Nolan Traoré got the start over Ben Saraf in this one, leveling the playing field as each rookie point guard has now been able to play one game with the starting lineup.
With Egor Dëmin and Haywood Highsmith still on the shelf, the current ten-man rotation for the Nets is looking set:
Traoré/Saraf
Cam Thomas — Tyrese Martin
Terance Mann — Ziaire Williams
Michael Porter Jr. — Noah Clowney
Nic Claxton — Day’Ron Sharpe
Those ten (and a courtesy appearance from Fanbo Zeng in front of the Chinese crowd) accounted for all the first half minutes, and all had shining moments, though none of them came on defense. Ben Saraf missed two 3-pointers badly, then started passing ‘em up, but had successful drives against some NBA defenders!
Saraf finished with 9/1/0 and six FT attempts, Traoré with 6/1/1 and four turnovers. For the Frenchman, a couple tough drives, a couple wild ones, and a short mid-range pull up. Another silver-lining though is that they both looked comfortable in Jordi Fernández’s offense; their mistakes were not of the deer-in-headlights variety, but passing when they maybe could have shot, getting bumped off course by grown men.
The rest of the Nets, in their 71-59 first half, didn’t have even those problems. Noah Clowney, looking swole, hit a couple threes and even a layup when he got run off the line. The ball zoomed around in both the half-court and transition, often hitting the high post with appropriate movement around it…
Nic Claxton finished with 12/9/5 and four turnovers, largely a beneficiary of Brooklyn’s free-flowing offense (and Phoenix’s terrible defense), but occasionally a kickstarter.
Brooklyn’s starters did briefly play into the second half in this one, and that’s where the wheels fell off. Once Phoenix started making some open jumpers, the holes in the Nets defense jumped off the screen. Michael Porter Jr. had a horrific defensive game, even worse than his reputation would suggest; maybe his veteran status has earned him that right, but I am scared I’ve underestimated just how bad he and Cam Thomas will be patrolling the wings in 2025-26.
The Suns, deciding to play some serious defense, won the third quarter 30-12 to take a small lead into the fourth quarter. By this point, the Nets bench was in the game, as was #22 overall pick Drake Powell, who hit his lone 3-pointer immediately. Jordi Fernández had Brooklyn full-court pressing for much of the third quarter, but all it did was lead to advantage opportunities for Phoenix — it went from preseason to pickup real fast
Brooklyn turned it over 34 times in all, and the teams combined to shoot 87 free-throws. The fourth quarter took 41 minutes, the game nearly three hours overall. Interminable. At least Danny Wolf finally checked in, hit a couple shots, and gave us one last highlight by hitting Powell on the fast-break…
Brooklyn got their first look at Khaman Maluach — who many thought they would take at #8 instead of Dëmin — as well. Maluach was as advertised, raw and occasionally clumsy, but did put up 10/5/2 and was tough to score on around the rim.
Perhaps constituting cruel and unusual punishment, this game went to overtime after the Nets blew a seven-point lead with two minutes left. Wolf, Kobe Bufkin, Fanbo Zeng (zero points), Drew Timme, and Jalen Wilson could not create many easy shots in OT, and the Phoenix Suns ultimately walked away with the victory after trailing by as many as 18 points.
This game may serve as an encapsulation of Brooklyn’s upcoming season. They were feistier than expected in the first half, and more offensively competent against a defense that just didn’t bring it. The young guys showed flashes, while MPJ and CT reminded us that, no matter their flaws, they can put the ball in the hole. The second half was less exhilarating; Phoenix came to play, and Brooklyn began to stack turnovers and defensive miscues, leading to a loss.
Too bad this wasn’t a regular season game; it would have been perfect.
Final Score: Phoenix Suns 132, Brooklyn Nets 127
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Running it back: The Nets will take on the Suns even earlier on Sunday morning, with tip-off set for 7:00 a.m. ET, concluding their stint in Macao.