There’s no one who throws a mediocre “welcome back” party like the Brooklyn Nets. Even if that is a strange gathering, they have expertise planning them, having pulled off the same blatant farce with Kevin Durant returning to town less than a week ago.
However, Kyrie Irving had his chance tonight signing jerseys that had his name on the back and the colours of the other club. It was his turn to watch as the odd fan appeared and flashed him the heart symbol, only to be reprimanded by an usher shortly after. It was then his turn to hear boos drown out the celebrations.
Requesting a trade after failing to deliver only leads to the latter for the majority of professional athletes. But here in Brooklyn, things are different. There’s a growing lack of support in the arena for the two (or three) players who brought the Nets the closest to winning basketball now that they’ve been deprived of it for so long. The Nets haven’t found somebody new who can do for them what that lost love did, therefore they’re that depressed person who is still grieving after a breakup. (In my opinion, all the ingredients for a hit Adele song!)
Either way, Dallas and Brooklyn had a great time dancing this evening. The Nets were kept at a safe distance throughout the entire evening by Irving and his new best friend Luka Doncic, but Brooklyn struggled to put pressure on the basket at a few different moments in the second half. This is what we discovered.
Given Brooklyn’s small stature, recent issues on the glass, and the news of Long Island call-ups that arrived on our phones this afternoon, all the indicators were pointing to Noah Clowney’s first legitimate NBA run.
When Brooklyn’s first throw-in attempt to support the five was made, at the seven-minute mark of the first quarter, Jacque Vaughn sure fired one. He hid in the dunker position and used Dennis Smith Jr.’s alley-oop feed to convert an early look and get on the scoreboard. However, he quickly sank back into the bench and didn’t come out again.
Jalen Wilson was the rookie who stepped up and even played much of the second half of the game. The former Jayhawk finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. It wasn’t a “break out” performance by any means, but rather a reminder of what we saw from him in the preseason and Summer League prior.
Wilson demonstrated his ability to play Brooklyn’s switch once more while playing defence, something the Brooklyn coaching staff undoubtedly saw as a bonus. Despite the fact that this was a nationally televised game, there were no indications of rookie nerves either. With around eight minutes remaining, he made one of his two triples during Brooklyn’s initial charge to tie the score and reduce Dallas’ lead to just ten points. It happened shortly after Wilson nudged a steal off Irving on the other end, much to the joy of the crowd.
