Brooklyn Nets rookie point guard Egor Demin cracked the starting lineup once again, and it looked as if Nets coach Jordi Fernandez left the spot open. The lottery pick failed to score in the first half, but exploded for 23 in the second half as the Nets lost to the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night.
There is a silver lining to the Brooklyn Nets' 115-103 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night at the Barclays Center.
They just might have found their point guard of the future.
Rookie, lottery pick Egor Demin found himself starting the game slowly as he scored no points in the first half and only took two shots. As such, the Nets found themselves down 63-38 at the halftime break.
The Nets did not get out of the blocks early, as they only scored 23 points in the first quarter. They trailed 31-23 after one quarter.
Demin caught fire in the second half as he exploded for 23 points to keep the Nets in the game. He also grabbed nine rebounds and had five assists. He had 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Nets tried to stay in the game.
"The [stat] line looks good, I like his aggressiveness," Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. "I like the rebounding and defensively it took him a little time to get into the game. Happy for him, he saw the ball go in, but we have to be better, all of us. I am happy for him, but at the same time I want more from him and from the group."
Tyrese Martin and Noah Clowney each chimed in with 16 points.
For the 76ers, Tyrese Maxey scored a team-high 22 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists. Jared McCain scored 20 points and added four rebounds and an assist to pace the 76ers, who won for the 11th time this season.
The Nets struggled with the triple as they only shot 13-of-43 from 3-point territory. They shot 40.5 percent overall. Both teams struggled from behind the arc as they averaged 30 percent each. The 76ers connected on 11-of-37 triples.
The 76ers shot much better from the field as they connected on 49 percent shooting. They scored on 43-of-88 shots. Philadelphia had 12 steals compared to five for the Nets.
Fernandez was not happy in his post-game news conference as he chastised his team for playing soft on the glass and allowing themselves to get into a deep hole early on.
"I think the biggest challenge was to ask the team to play hard and play focused. We are back to square one. It happens. I am going to keep pushing. When you ask them to play really hard and stay focused you are not coaching."
Brooklyn went almost six minutes without a bucked from the latter part of the second quarter through the initial two minutes of the third. They finally got a basket from Terrance Mann, who scored 14 points and had six assists.
"We played a little better in the second half and saw some shots go in, but the reality is when our transition defense is bad, our rebounding has been really bad," Fernandez said. "If you look at 31 fast-break points, it's not good enough to get the win."
The 76ers saw a 21-point lead cut to nine after the Nets took off on an 11-2 run punctuated by a Demin 3-point field goal which made it 74-65 with 4:07 left in the third quarter.
Demin once again cut the lead to nine with a 3-pointer with 4:35 to play in the game. It was 112-103 with 1:13 to play in the contest before Adem Bona hit a wide-open 3-pointer to ice the game for Philadelphia.
The Nets lost for the third consecutive game and fell to 0-9 at home. They are still looking to send the home crowd happy.
"We have to be responsible, all of us, for how we approach games and all that stuff," Fernandez said. "When it clicks and we take it to the next level, we have to fight through it mentally and do their job night in and night out."
Brooklyn will not have a long time to get past this game as they turn around and travel to Milwaukee to face the Bucks Saturday night.
The Nets lost for the third consecutive game and fell to 0-9 at home. They are still looking to send the home crowd happy.
"We have to be responsible, all of us, for how we approach games and all that stuff," Fernandez said. "When it clicks and we take it to the next level, we have to fight through it mentally and do their job night in and night out."
Brooklyn will not have a long time to get past this game as they turn around and travel to Milwaukee to face the Bucks Saturday night.