Nets look every bit like a tanking team during lopsided loss to Hornets in opener
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Nets are projected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA this season.
They looked the part in Wednesday’s opener. And, at least on early returns, their tank appears safe.
Brooklyn got run out of the gym by a Charlotte team that may be every bit as disincentivized as they are. They trailed from the first quarter on, and got routed 136-117 before a sellout crowd of 19,516 at Spectrum Center.
To say the Nets played poor defense at the point of attack would be kind, suggesting they defended at all at the point of attack. They were outscored 60-46 in the paint, 23-5 on the break and allowed 53.3 percent shooting, 17 of 36 from behind the arc.
The Nets (0-1) took a record five first-round picks in the June draft, and all of them played Wednesday except for late scratch Danny Wolf. And not to be cynical, but that’s really what this rebuilding season is about, getting those rookies experience. Oh, and getting a top lottery pick to add to them next year.
To that end, expect more nights like this. A lot more. And a couple of afternoons as well.
Brandon Miller had a game-high 25 points for Charlotte, while point guard LaMelo Ball added 20 and eight assists.
The only Nets who were really effective were centers Nic Claxton (17 points) and Day’Ron Sharpe (14 points on 6-for-7 shooting), who tried to keep Brooklyn alive on putbacks. But the presumptive offensive go-to players — Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. — never got going.
Thomas had 15 points on horrid 2-for-9 shooting after struggling from the floor all preseason. And Porter mustered just 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting overall, 2 of 7 from behind the arc. When that duo is misfiring, this team has no chance.
Ben Saraf was the only rookie to start, getting the nod at point guard ahead of lottery pick Egor Dëmin. Saraf had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists without a single turnover, acquitting himself fairly well.
Dëmin had 14 points and five boards off the bench, while fellow point guard Nolan Traore and wing Drake Powell each got in seven minutes of garbage time. And there was plenty of that to be logged.
The Nets cautiously eased Dëmin back following the plantar fascia tear that cost him most of training camp and preseason. But as the training wheels are taken off the Russian and his minutes restriction is loosened, more will be expected of him.
For the teenaged lottery pick — the Nets’ first in 15 years — aggression is going to mean paint touches. He struggled to consistently get by defenders in the second half of his lone year at BYU and also during summer league in Las Vegas.
Doing it in the NBA will determine his success. And Brooklyn’s.
