After falling behind by eight in the second quarter, the Nets flipped the game with a dominant second half, outscoring the Knicks 53-32 after halftime to cruise to a 91-65 Summer League victory. Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. led the way with 20 points each.
The Brooklyn Nets opened their NBA 2K26 Summer League schedule in Las Vegas with a convincing 91-65 win over the New York Knicks on Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The game marked Danny Wolf's Summer League debut after he missed the California Classic with back soreness. Earlier in the day, Brooklyn also officially completed the Julius Randle trade, making Joshua Jefferson eligible to make his professional debut in Saturday's matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.
Brooklyn started Mikel Brown Jr., Egor Demin, Drake Powell, Danny Wolf and Chaney Johnson.
Neither team could get much going offensively in the opening quarter. Brooklyn and New York combined to shoot just 8-for-30 from the field, with missed open looks, turnovers and even a few air balls keeping the score low.
Demin came out looking to score, taking five shots in the first three-and-a-half minutes. He converted an and-one drive before finding Chaney Johnson on a backdoor cut to help Brooklyn build a 15-9 lead.
New York finally found a little rhythm late in the quarter. Tyler Nickel knocked down a pair of three-pointers, and Pacome Dadiet scored on a backdoor cut as the Knicks closed the period on a 7-0 run to take a 16-15 lead.
The Knicks carried that momentum into the second quarter. Dadiet converted an and-one before Dillon Jones turned a steal into a fast-break layup, capping a 16-2 run that gave New York a 25-17 advantage.
It didn't take long for the Nets to answer.
Demin took over, repeatedly getting into the paint before knocking down back-to-back three-pointers late in the half. Brooklyn answered with a 16-2 run of its own to erase the deficit and take a 38-33 lead into halftime.
Brooklyn completely took control after halftime.
Chaney Johnson came up with a steal that led to a dunk before Mikel Brown Jr. added another steal that turned into easy points. Wolf got out in transition for a dunk, Ben Saraf knocked down a three, and Demin stayed hot from deep as the Nets ripped off a 15-0 run to blow the game open.
The Nets outscored New York 30-9 in the third quarter, turning a five-point halftime lead into a commanding 68-42 advantage entering the fourth.
Any chance of a Knicks comeback disappeared early in the final quarter.
Brown converted a four-point play before knocking down another three a few possessions later, and Brooklyn pushed its lead to as many as 32 points before closing out the 91-65 victory.
Brown and Demin led the Nets with 20 points apiece. Brown finished 6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, while Demin shot 7-for-15 and knocked down three three-pointers after his aggressive start.
Johnson continued his strong Summer League with 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals, while Wolf impressed in his debut with nine points, eight rebounds and three assists. Humrichous added nine points, five rebounds and knocked down three of his five attempts from three-point range.
Drake Powell's shooting struggles continued. The first-round pick finished scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting after going 1-for-8 in his previous game and 0-for-9 in his Summer League debut.
For New York, Dadiet finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Tyler Nickel added 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting from three-point range.
Rust showed for New York in its Summer League opener. The Knicks shot just 19-for-67 (28.4%) from the field and 9-for-39 (23.1%) from beyond the arc.
Brooklyn looked like the more polished team throughout the night. After falling behind by eight early in the second quarter, the Nets responded with one dominant run after another, eventually building a 32-point lead before the final buzzer.
The Nets will look to carry that momentum into Saturday's game against the Atlanta Hawks, when Joshua Jefferson is expected to be available for his professional debut.
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