The Brooklyn Nets fell behind early in their 115-103 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. Though the Nets showed some signs late in the game, their first half deficit proved too big to overcome.

Egor Demin finished with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting, nine rebounds, and five assists, scoring all of his points within the final 24 minutes of play.

Demin’s shot form from 3-point range and burst to the rim looked incredible, but it’s fair to point out that it came at a time when the game was seemingly decided. At the same time, though, Demin is still a rookie focused primarily on player development, which he seems to understand.

“Being able to really find that assertiveness and being decisive. I need to focus on what I can control, or what we can control as a group,” Demin said. “Keep really following our staples and really trying to reach the goals we put [in] pregame on our game plan, and being able to get stops and run the floor.”

I think that’s great because obviously Jordi wants us to shoot a lot but, it’s not just getting any shots. I wish I didn’t take some of the shots I took and tried to find something better for myself or my teammates.”

Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez acknowledged that Demin could’ve made a couple of different reads here and there and that he didn’t love Demin’s five assists to three turnover ratio, but he was also happy with the rookie’s 18 field goal attempts.

“I don’t want him to go out there and second guess himself,” Fernandez said. “He was not selfish by any means. He had five assists, probably a lot of potential assists, and I’m happy with how he shot the ball and how aggressive he was.”

Defensively, Demin had to guard Tyrese Maxey and Quentin Grimes, acknowledging how tough it is to go up against players of that caliber.

“They’re really good players, which is not an excuse for myself or any body else, definitely, and I think that’s my next step where I have to really get on the next level to guard players like that, who are really quick, really aggressive, physical, and they’ve been in the league for a while,” Demin said. “That’s kind of a goal for myself.”

Demin has shown incredible self awareness and flashes on the court, which should help him turn into a very productive player at the next level.