Mar 8, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell (1) talks with head coach Jordi Fernandez during the fourth quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images / Scott Kinser-Imagn Images
The Brooklyn Nets are now 22-42 after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers at home on Monday night.
The Nets held Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to a combined 11-for-40 from the field. Head coach Jordi Fernández broke down how his team limited the Lakers’ stars.
He said: “I think sometimes you bring the energy and you’re flying around, and when you put two on the ball, you’re opening up something else, and sometimes, you just gotta get lucky that guys like them that can score in bunches [are] not having the night. So it’s a two way street.”
Fernández liked his team’s energy, and credited Ziaire Williams, Tyrese Martin and Keon Johnson for their efforts on the defensive end. The Lakers were missing players — namely LeBron James, currently out with a groin strain — but that’s the nature of the NBA, per the Nets’ bench boss, who was without Cam Thomas.
“I’m happy with the effort that all 10 players brought on the court, and even though we made mistakes, they held each other accountable, they talked to each other, encouraged each other, and that’s the best thing to see,” Fernández said.
Noah Clowney led the team in scoring with 19 points off the bench. Keon Johnson scored 18 points as part of the Nets’ second unit, pitching with three threes, three rebounds and three assists. Tyrese Martin had 14 and “really helped” Brooklyn, according to Fernández. Day’Ron Sharpe had eight points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes.
Ziaire Williams, who started the game, came up with a clutch offensive rebound that put the Nets up by five points with 13.3 seconds remaining. He had seven points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in 31 minutes. Fernández said that Williams’ offensive rebound was “key,” and compared it to the team’s recent loss to the Charlotte Hornets when Brooklyn “didn’t even put effort into” crashing the glass and getting second chance points.
The Nets’ head coach added: “You realize [if] you go down to games that we’ve won – how many times in the fourth quarter we’ve had big offensive rebounds, and that’s playoff basketball if you think about it. We need that growth. We need to understand that that is very important late in the game.”
Up next, the Nets complete the second night of a back-to-back when they hit the road to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. In the long term, Fernández has bigger aspirations for his team.
“Our intentions [today] were very, very good – how connected we were,” he said. “Were we perfect? No. We made a lot of mistakes that we can correct, but […] the path that we want to take is ‘get one percent better,’ and a year from now, we’ll be a different team.”
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