![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772162541_175_Michael-Porter-Jr.jpg\")
Michael Porter Jr.\u2019s dunk is blocked by Victor Wembanyama during the Nets\u2019 126-110 blowout win over the Spurs on Feb. 26, 2026 at Barclays Center. Jason Szenes for New York Post<\/p>\nTwo years ago, San Antonio was the worst team in the West. <\/p>\n
Today they\u2019re the hottest team in the NBA.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn had to draw hope from that, while the Spurs were dunking all over them.<\/p>\n
The tanking Nets\u2019 126-110 loss to San Antonio Thursday before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center brought them a step closer to the kind of potential star they\u2019ll need for a turnaround.<\/p>\n
Victor Wembanyama had 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks, dominating on the defensive end. <\/p>\n
Michael Porter Jr.\u2019s dunk is blocked by Victor Wembanyama during the Nets\u2019 126-110 blowout win over the Spurs on Feb. 26, 2026 at Barclays Center. Jason Szenes for New York Post<\/p>\n
Julian Champagnie added a game-high 26 points for the loaded Spurs, who put seven scorers in double figures before the end of the third quarter and cruised past Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 25 points and 14 boards \u2014 both team-highs. But they trailed by as much as 26, and weren\u2019t on San Antonio\u2019s level. <\/p>\n
Or even the level below that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning matters and competing for games is extremely important,\u201d said Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cThe record is what it is \u2014 we\u2019re well aware of it and we don\u2019t like it. But the players show up and work every day.<\/p>\n
![\"Victor](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Victor-Wembanyama-2.jpg\")
Victor Wembanyama grabs a rebound in front of Michael Porter Jr. Jason Szenes for New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cComing here and feeling like we can compete against anybody has to be important. If you\u2019re up 10, you want to be up 20. If you\u2019re down 20, you want to be down 10. We have to be competitive and understand this is a process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The process is about getting the best lottery odds in a generational draft.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn (15-43) sits third in the lottery standings, three games behind first-place Sacramento (pending the Kings\u2019 tilt vs. Dallas) and a game behind Indiana.<\/p>\n
The Nets coughed up a 17-4 run that spanned from the end of the first quarter two minutes into the second. They never challenged after that.<\/p>\n
Danny Wolf had 14 points off the bench, while lottery pick Egor Demin handed out a career-high nine assists while fellow rookie Nolan Traore added 13 points.<\/p>\n
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson \u2014 a former assistant who inherited the reins from Gregg Popovich last season \u2014 has seen the process of grooming young talent firsthand. But five simultaneously is unprecedented.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s challenging. It\u2019s hard to ask a 19-year-old to help another 19-year-old. It\u2019s like asking a bunch of kids who\u2019re just learning how to swim to make sure the other one doesn\u2019t drown,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cSo, you have to at times take a step back, give grace and be patient, because they\u2019re learning what it takes to survive in this league, which is a lot; and you have multiple young players trying to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s also very rewarding when you have the character and good young players, guys that are playing hard. And Jordi\u2019s done a heck of a job and you see the competition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Nets had a clean injury report, with Josh Minott making his debut after arriving at the trade deadline. <\/p>\n
He went scoreless in five minutes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two years ago, San Antonio was the worst team in the West. Today they\u2019re the hottest team in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,247,562,6,969,474,4075,4074,66,534,693],"class_list":{"0":"post-627417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio-spurs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn-nets","10":"tag-michael-porter-jr","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","14":"tag-sanantonio","15":"tag-sanantoniospurs","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-spurs","18":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116140453371448638","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}