Rookie guards Egor Dëmin and Nolan Traoré delivered career-best performances, showcasing promising future despite the Nets' defeat.
The Brooklyn Nets were defeated for a third straight game by the Orlando Magic on Thursday night, falling to 13-37 on the season with a 118-98 loss.
In their first game since the passing of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, Brooklyn's next generation was on full display as Michael Porter Jr. struggled mightily, as the Eastern Conference All-Star snub managed to score just nine points on 2-for-13 shooting from the floor.
The Magic's 2024 All-Defensive Second Team guard Jalen Suggs stole the show while setting the tone early for his defensively-sound squad, poking the ball loose from countless Nets and registering the first triple-double of his NBA career (15 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals, four blocks).
For Brooklyn, it was their pair of rookie guards Egor Dëmin and Nolan Traoré who notched career nights for themselves while doing their best to create and finish quality shots for themselves and their teammates.
Dëmin scored a career-best 26 points, knocking down six of his 10 looks from three-point range (rest of team shot 6-for-29 from distance, 20.7%). Traoré's big night came in the form of both a welcome scoring barrage and fantastic play-making performance, as he tied two career-bests with 21 points and seven assists on the evening.
Traoré showed plenty of promise against Orlando in a variety of ways, but most impressive was his ability to get two feet in the painted area and make sound decisions in the moments following as a passer and finisher at the basket. The 19-year-old table-setter is usually pretty fast, but he was an absolute blur in this one in transition.
As for Dëmin, his shot-making became more and more impressive as the night continued. After a 10-point first half, he'd score 11 more points in the first 5:01 of the third frame.
Though the Nets never led in this game and the Magic thoroughly dominated defensively, the silver lining of the two rookie guards performing well did plenty to counteract the Magic consistently holding onto a 20-point lead for most of the night.
Orlando's wings and frontcourt personnel also had a field day around the basket against Brooklyn as they finished the game with a 64-40 advantage in points in the paint. The Magic have never held a reputation as a skilled three-point shooting club, and their horrid 28.1% three-point percentage for the game had seemingly no effect on the final outcome.
Desmond Bane led the Magic in scoring with 23 points, followed by a 22-point night for their 2024 All-Star Paolo Banchero. Brooklyn's Nic Claxton registered an efficient 14-point, six-rebound, three-assist game on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor, and Danny Wolf scored 13 points in a shade under 22 minutes of play.
As if the Nets' mindset shift to focusing on the development of their young guys wasn't evident enough, head coach Jordi Fernandez made the decision to trot out a lineup consisting of each of the franchise's NBA record five first-round selections from the 2025 NBA Draft.
Brooklyn's next matchup will be against the new-look Washington Wizards on Saturday afternoon.