The Brooklyn Nets spent their past two games showcasing the phrase “next man up” by earning impressive road wins against two of the better teams in the Western Conference.
Armed with an extensive injury list, the Nets will attempt to earn a fourth straight victory Friday night when they return home for an NBA Cup game against the Orlando Magic, who are surviving the absence of Paolo Banchero.
The Nets will be without Cam Thomas for at least three weeks due to a strained left hamstring and Noah Clowney for at least two weeks with a sprained left ankle. Brooklyn is also attempting to navigate a lower back injury to Nic Claxton, who sat out Wednesday’s impressive 127-117 win over the Phoenix Suns.
Without Thomas’ 24.7 points per game, Tyrese Martin shined in his 22nd NBA game by scoring a career-high 30 points — three fewer than his first 21 contests combined. He hit eight of Brooklyn’s 18 3-pointers as the Nets shot 45.2 percent (57-of-126) from behind the arc in wins over the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Suns in their final three games of a four-game trip.
Brooklyn is on its first three-game winning streak in almost a year and is seeking its first four-game winning stretch since the Nets won 12 straight in the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era from Dec. 7, 2022, to Jan. 2, 2023.
The past two seasons have started out strong for the Nets but devolved into difficult campaigns resulting in huge trades, with the likes of Durant and Irving leaving in 2023 and Mikal Bridges last season. This has made for low expectations this season, which first-year coach Jordi Fernandez likes to remind his players of.
“He told us that the one time and it’s just been a thing, keep it in our head, keep a fire lit,” Martin said. “So after every game he reminds us they had us for 19 wins. We’re here to compete every night. We’re going to get more than that.”
Dennis Schroder added 29 points after scoring 31 against Golden State while Trendon Watford contributed 18 as the Nets shot 56.4 percent after halftime, 50.6 percent overall and scored at least 125 for the third time this season.
The Nets are 1-2 in their NBA Cup games with a minus-16 point differential while Orlando is unbeaten in its two in-season tournament games with a plus-37 differential in East Group A.
One of Brooklyn’s worst showings occurred Oct. 25 in Orlando when the Magic earned a 116-101 win by outscoring the Nets 67-55 in the second half.
Banchero scored 15 points in the previous meeting but has been out since Oct. 30 with an oblique injury. Orlando is 10-5 in the 15 games without him and enters the opener of a five-game trip with four straight wins and 10 in its past 11.
Orlando is last in the NBA in 3-point percentage (31 percent) but is coming off its most prolific outing in several weeks, shooting 38.5 percent from long range in a 133-119 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.
“They’re getting the right shots, and I think their ability to stay confident in that is great,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said.
Jalen Suggs scored a season-high 31 points after missing Monday’s game in Charlotte with a hamstring injury. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added a season-best 24 after not scoring more than 13 in any game this season, helping Orlando score 73 by halftime.
“He was in the gym working (Tuesday), just continuously working, knowing at some point they’re gonna fall,” Mosley said.
–Field Level Media