The Brooklyn Nets (0-2) did not have the kind of showing that they expected to have in their season-opener at the Charlotte Hornets, but they had a chance to redeem themselves at home on Friday. Granted, Brooklyn would be facing a much-tougher opponent in the Cleveland Cavaliers (1-1) and while the Nets got their act together in the second half, it was too little, too late.
Despite a fourth quarter comeback that had Barclays Center jumping for joy, the Nets lost to the Cavaliers 131-124. Guard Cam Thomas led the way for Brooklyn to the tune of 33 points and nine assists while forward Michael Porter Jr. wasn’t that far behind him with 31 points and eight rebounds of his own as the Nets were looking to win their first game of the season in front of their home crowd.
It seemed that Brooklyn fell behind by as many as 25 points due to some familiar weaknesses in terms of defense, especially in transition. The Nets did not look like themselves in the first half, but the second half showed them slowly figuring out how they wanted to play so with that being said, here are three Nets takeaways from Friday’s loss to the Cavaliers:
Cam Thomas Is Back
After Wednesday’s season-opening loss at the Charlotte Hornets, it seemed like Thomas was still adapting to his role as the player with the ball in his hands that has to make things happen for himself and his teammates. As Nets fans have seen in the preseason, opposing teams are putting pressure on Brooklyn’s ball-handlers in an effort to expose that the Nets don’t have many playmakers within the rotation.
However, Thomas seemed to put it altogether against the Cavaliers, even though it took him until the second half to truly get himself going in a way that Nets fans recognize. Thomas came close to a double-double of 33 points and nine assists and achieved those numbers while shooting 50.0% from the field. He may have figured out how he needs to play if the Nets are going to be competitive.
Ziaire Williams Continues Shooting Lights-out From Deep
Williams has shot below league-average for his entire career as he was trying to figure out how he fit on the Memphis Grizzlies and on the Nets last season. Williams had his best shooting performance from behind the three-point line during the 2024-25 campaign with Brooklyn and he still shot just 34.1% from that distance, showing he still had some improvement to do as a shooter.
This season has seen Williams take his long-range shooting to a different height as he is shooting 54.5% from behind the three-point arc after making 6-of-9 three-pointers against the Cavaliers. According to Basketball Reference, Williams ranks 10th in the league in three-point percentage for players averaging at least 5.5 three-point attempts per game heading into Saturday’s slate of games, with Nets rookie Egor Demin ranking sixth in the same category (63.6%).
Nets Showed Some Heart
After a first half that looked like the Nets were going to be waiving the white flag early in the fourth quarter, they ended up showing the kind of fight that head coach Jordi Fernandez expects from his team. Brooklyn fell behind in the first quarter 34-23 and 45-35 in the third quarter, but the Nets won the fourth quarter by 15 points and that was with plenty of mistakes within the period.
Fernandez has said multiple times that he can accept mistakes as he usually says that he gives his players 14 turnovers so that they continue to be aggressive, but he also cannot stand for unforced errors and lack of effort. The Nets have to work on sustaining effort and concentration for all four quarters, but the fourth quarter showed that the team is listening to him and is willing to play hard.