Brooklyn Nets Struggle in Summer League Loss
Las Vegas – The primary concern surrounding the Nets’ rookie class has been their ability to shoot three-pointers, and this has been a silent but persistent worry.
Tuesday night didn’t help the situation at all. In fact, it might have intensified the fears.
In their 97-93 defeat to the Knicks at the Summer League, the Nets fell to 0-3 in Las Vegas, highlighting their ongoing challenges.
It wasn’t merely that they had difficulty making the shots; there was a noticeable reluctance to even take them.
The team finished with just five successful three-pointers out of 25 attempts, while the Knicks shot a far more impressive 10 out of 38.
Nets coaches have emphasized the need for more attempts, aiming for at least 40 over the shorter summer league games.
“I think there’s a bit of hesitation,” Brooklyn assistant coach Steve Hetzel noted. “Our philosophy is to encourage shooting, but we didn’t reach that goal last night.”
This hesitation may play a crucial role in assessing how well the batch of five first-round rookies will perform.
Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf managed just 13 points collectively on five-for-21 shooting against the Knicks, with many of their attempts being threes.
“The goal is to get as many three-pointers as we can,” Saraf mentioned. “The more we shoot, the more it opens up other parts of our game. It’s a process, and we’re aware of that.”
Traore struggled as well, only scoring two points and experiencing a hard fall that caused him some discomfort.
The two rookies, including Saraf, will be evaluated again on Wednesday against Orlando.
Meanwhile, lottery pick Egor Denin and first-rounder Danny Wolf, along with two-way players Tyson Etienne and Teuthan Evbeumouin, sat out against the Knicks.
Clearly, the Nets’ offense was missed on Tuesday.
Knicks guard Tyler Collek was particularly problematic for Brooklyn, dominating early in the game. He scored 23 of his 25 points in the first half, which helped the Knicks to a 41-39 lead at halftime.
The deficit eventually grew to 10 points at 66-56 late in the third quarter, stemming from a three-pointer by Anton Watson. Unfortunately, the Nets couldn’t rally from that point.
Drew Tim provided some hope, as he was the team’s most reliable scorer, finishing with a notable 24 points and 10 rebounds. Caleb Daniels and Quincy Olivali each added 16 points, with Olivali making his Summer League debut after a stint with the Lakers.
