ATLANTA — Jordi Fernandez has been looking for fight and toughness throughout his first camp as an NBA head coach.
In his regular season debut, Fernandez's Nets may have shown too much fight and toughness and too little finesse and technique.
The undermanned Nets briefly lost their composure and lost to the Hawks 120-116 in front of a sold-out State Farm Arena crowd of 17,548.
“I loved how physical we were. We've been talking about Brooklyn's grit, right? You could see it with the 32 fouls. The only thing is, we've got to be smarter. Our technique has to be better. We have to lead with our chest and show our hands, ”said Fernandes. “I'm not arguing about the calls or the free throws. We've got to be better. But our guys played hard.”
That was the basis of a training camp that focused on physicality.
The Nets were expected to win a league-worst 19.5 games, but they carried that advantage into the opener, where they trailed by six points.
However, they took the lead late in the third and trailed just 90-89 with 8:22 left.
At that time, they conceded 12-3. They were helped by careless fouls by Cam Thomas (game-high 36 points, 20 in the fourth quarter) and Nick Claxton, the latter of whom made a flagrant 2 that resulted in center fielding. .
The incident spoiled the debut of Fernandes, the first Spaniard and third European to become an NBA head coach.
In fact, the performance wasn't a win, but it was solid.
After all, the Nets are in a tank.
But they also want to extend the youth they already have, and there were encouraging signs.
Thomas became the third player in NBA history to score 35 or more points in multiple season openers before turning 24 years old.
Sophomore Jalen Wilson played 16 games off the bench.
Claxton, who came off the bench after missing all preseason games, was fouled by Dyson Daniels on the clothesline and was tossed up, before Hawk came off the floor to chase him.
It was one of 32 fouls committed by the Nets, who were forced to the line 46 times while Atlanta was forced to the line just 25 times.
Thomas tied a team record by going 14-of-27 and 7-of-13 from deep, but only made one free throw.
“We just need to calm down our physicality a little bit. We were really physical in training camp and we want to play like that. But we've got to be smarter, 46 fouls. [shots] It's crazy. … We all have to be smarter, myself included,” Claxton said.
“We just showed what we've preached, played physical and got to know the guys. But we have to have controlled physicality,” Thomas said. “At the end of the day, whether you feel like they made the right call or not, 46 free throws is kind of unacceptable. So we have to learn how to play with more physical control. If you do, you'll get really good at it.”
And point guards Ben Simmons and Dennis Schroder combined for 11 turnovers, with Simmons having to start at center again, allowing him to play more crisply.
The Nets shook off a slow start and reeled off nine unanswered holes to finish 13-4.
Brooklyn, which trailed 35-31 on a dunk by Onyeka Okongwu (28 points), went on a 10-0 run capped by a Dorian Finney-Smith layup to take a six-point lead.
But Finney-Smith picked up his fourth foul seconds before intermission, and Simmons picked up his fourth with 6:59 left in the third set, holding a 64-63 lead.
The lead didn't last.
Trae Young (30 points) drove as hard as he could for a go-ahead layup on the next play.
The Nets got the lead on a Noah Clowney bucket, but Daniels' 3-pointer put Atlanta ahead and Brooklyn never took the lead again.
“I want to win every game, because at the end of the day, what you want is to get into the habit of winning,” Fernandes said. “Can we fix things that we can control that could have helped us win? For me right now, it's leading with my chest, showing my hands and then finishing the possession.
“When you step back and watch this game, it's very special. It's very special for my wife, my kids, my parents and everyone I've been with during the journey. I'm very honored to be here. I'm very proud of them and I'm very proud of them for playing really hard.”
