{"id":549050,"date":"2026-01-20T15:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/549050\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T15:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:16:19","slug":"shorthanded-nets-scorched-by-suns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/549050\/","title":{"rendered":"Shorthanded Nets scorched by Suns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dillon Brooks lit the Nets up for 27 points Monday as Phoenix handed Brooklyn its 10th loss in 12 games at Barclays Center. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II\n<\/p>\n

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN \u2014 Rookie Egor D\u0451min, reserve center Day\u2019Ron Sharpe and instant-offense provider Cam Thomas couldn\u2019t suit up for the Nets Monday night in Downtown Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Dillon Brooks and Devin Booker took full advantage of the situation, combining for 51 points to pace the Phoenix Suns to a 126-117 victory over the shorthanded Nets in front of 17,344 paying customers on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.<\/p>\n

Winners of five of their last seven contests, the Suns (26-17) rolled into Barclays Center knowing that D\u0451min, the eighth overall pick in this year\u2019s NBA Draft, would be sidelined as Brooklyn continues to sit him in back-to-backs for load management issues.<\/p>\n

The fast-emerging 6-foot-8 Russian sharp-shooter has been playing through a plantar fasciitis injury that cost him time in the preseason.<\/p>\n

Sharpe was unavailable due to an undisclosed illness and Thomas is also being careful with a left hamstring strain that cost him seven weeks of action earlier this season.<\/p>\n

The Phoenix law firm of Brooks and Booker were only too happy to make sure Brooklyn (12-29) suffered its second straight loss and 10th in 12 contests since the Nets put together a solid 7-4 mark in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, the game was called, like, a rugby game, and it is what it is,\u201d Brooklyn second-year coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez lamented one night after watching his team slog through a 124-102 thumping in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can not control that. So we gotta keep fighting,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"PhoenixPhoenix\u2019s Devin Booker and Michael Porter Jr. fight for a loose ball during the Nets\u2019 126-117 loss in Downtown Brooklyn on Monday. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II<\/p>\n

The free-throw disparity, 23-21 in favor of the Suns, wasn\u2019t the issue, however, as the Nets allowed Phoenix to shoot 51% from beyond the arc, including a combined 10-for-19 effort from Brooks and Grayson Allen.<\/p>\n

Brooks finished with a game-high 27 points, Booker added 24 and Collin Gillespie finished with 22 as the Suns burst out to a 40-26 lead after 12 minutes and held off a couple of Brooklyn rallies.<\/p>\n

\u201cProud of the group, I think everybody had good intentions, and at some point, once we matched that level of physicality, we started to come back,\u201d said Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n

Michael Porter Jr. scored 23 points to lead seven double-digit scorers for Brooklyn, which will play its third game in four nights Wednesday at Madison Square Garden vs. the East River rival Knicks, a team they haven\u2019t beaten since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Noah Clowney had 16 points, Ziaire Williams helped pick up the slack for Sharpe off the bench with 15, Nic Claxton added 12, rookie Drake Powell finished with 11 and Terance Mann and 19-year-old Nolan Traor\u00e9 chipped in 10 apiece.<\/p>\n

Mann drew praise from Fern\u00e1ndez for his ability to protect the ball and dish it out to his teammates after amassing a season-high eight assists while taking D\u0451min\u2019s spot in the starting five.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see the eight assists-one turnover, that\u2019s elite,\u201d noted Fern\u00e1ndez.\u00a0 \u201cWe trust him to bring the ball, be a situational point guard at times, keep telling him to let it fly when you\u2019re open, and he made two (3-pointers), so he was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Mann that helped the Nets reel the Suns in.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn shaved a 20-point deficit to four in the first half and was down 17 with nine minutes left before Mann fed Clowney for a three-point play that shaved the deficit to 118-114 with 4:01 to play.<\/p>\n

Brooks and former Net Royce O\u2019Neale answered with back-to-back 3-balls before Booker\u2019s eight-footer gave Phoenix a 126-115 cushion with 52 ticks remaining.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think their ability to make open 3s,\u201d Mann ceded when asked why the Nets\u2019 rallies fell short.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re a veteran team. They\u2019ve been in games like this numerous times. So we didn\u2019t really shake them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PhoenixFormer Net Royce O\u2019Neale celebrates after hitting the dagger 3-pointer Monday night as the Suns held off a late Nets rally. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II<\/p>\n

As a 29-year-old, seven-year veteran on the youngest roster in the NBA, Mann is likely to be back on the bench Wednesday when the Nets tip off at the Garden, especially with D\u0451min and Thomas expected back.<\/p>\n

That won\u2019t stop him from fulfilling his role in this ongoing rebuilding project.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these young guys come from situations where they have the ball most of the time. They\u2019re the main guy on the team,\u201d said Mann.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they\u2019re expected to always play well and expect shots to always go in and expect us to always have every play call for them. And there\u2019s a lot of money to be made in this league, not being that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"New
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNets lose fifth straight to Pelicans<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 15 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Torenli, Sports Editor\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Brooklyn
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMounting losses can\u2019t slow down Sharpe<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 14 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Torenli, Sports Editor\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dallas
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlagg drives Mavericks past slumping Nets<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 13 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Torenli, Sports Editor\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Orlando
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMagic spoil D\u0451min\u2019s big finish at Barclays<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 8 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Torenli, Sports Editor\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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