Despite missing seven players to injury and illness, the very short-handed Long Island Nets beat their G League rivals Westchester Knicks, 110-107, to end the first part of the NBA G League season with a .500 record. Although the Nets were short-handed, the cast they put on the court started strong and finished with just enough fuel on the tank for their seventh win.
The day started with Nolan Traore, who has been the headliner for Long Island, called up to Brooklyn for a longer audition for the big club. Then, one by one, the young Nets fell, leaving them without almost all of its best players. EJ Liddell was out for the second game, as he still is dealing with a left ankle sprain. However, on top of that, rookie Ben Saraf and high scoring wing, Nate Williams, were both out dealing with an illness. And top of that, David Muoka, the starting center the last game, was declared out with a left ankle sprain.
Grant Nelson also remained out, dealing with left knee soreness. This is the injury which sidelined Nelson for a good portion of the Tip-Off Tournament, the first part of the G League schedule. The silver lining here is that all of these players now have some time to get better and regroup. All 31 G League teams
as the “regular season” doesn’t kick off for Long Island until Sunday, December 28th. Also, the Nets opponent Friday night was the G League’s worst team, the Westchester Knicks who went into the game 1-11.
For Long Island, the losses on the injury report didn’t seem to affect things on the court. By the end of the first, the young Nets had piled it on, leading 46-15. Things got closer as the game went on but Long Island wound up with a rare wire-to-wire win.
So, with all of these names out, who picked up the slack? Well, for one, Brooklyn two-way, Tyson Etienne. Along with veteran wings Jay Scrubb and Malachi Smith, Etienne led Long Island with 20 points. The 26-year-old 6’0” shooting guard connected on six of his 15 shots from the field, all six coming from beyond the arc. So far this season, he’s averaging 19.0 points one shooting splits of 43/420/60 along with 2.4 assists and 2.0 rebounds.
Etienne also finished a steal and a block. Etienne was an on-ball and off-ball pest all game. Etienne stepped up in a big way to keep his team winning games, and was a large part of the reason that Long Island came out of Westchester with the win.
The first of two players Etienne was tied with in scoring was Scrubb. Scrubb arguably played his best game as a Net in this one. Scrubb is no slouch in his own right. He’s previously earned an NBA G League call-up, signing a two-way contract with the Orlando Magic in March 2023. The Louisville, KY native has appeared in 24 career NBA games with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Orlando Magic. At the NBA level, he averaged 4.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per contest.
He was selected by the Brooklyn Nets with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft and traded to the Clippers as a part of a multi-team deal. Now, he finds himself back with the same organization which drafted him.
Like Etienne, Scrubb finished with 20 points, connecting on eight of his 15 shot attempts. He also had six rebounds and four assists to his credit. Much like Etienne, the 6’4” 25-year-old Scrubb was also a bit of a ball hawk in this one, picking up two steals and one block.
Smith rounded out the three-way tie for the top scorer. Smith arguably had the best shooting game on the team, connecting on seven of his 11 shots, including going three-of-four from deep. He also had four rebounds, one assist, and even had a steal.
Rookie Dre Davis picked up a new career-high in this game, tallying 15 points while Tre Scott had a fairly quiet game by his standards, finishing with 13 points, only finding the net on five of his 13 attempts. However, his seven rebounds and six assists brought him close to a triple-double.
As for Yuri Collins, while he only picked up nine points, he excelled as a playmaker, tallying 10 assists. Collins flirted with a double-double in this one, but was just shy of it. He also had two rebounds and two steals.
The Long Island Nets (7-7) wrapped up their Tip-Off Tournament in this one, and now await their Winter Showcase fate which starts next weekend in Orlando. As of now, the next time they take the court is in over two weeks when they travel to Atlanta to take on the College Park Skyhawks on Sunday, December 28th. The game tips off at 3:00 p.m. EST and can be viewed on NBA TV.
Boxscore: Long Island Nets 110, Westchester Knicks 107 - G League
Full Game Video: Long Island Nets 110, Westchester Knicks 107 - G League