Brooklyn also received new clarity on its NBA draft standing after the regular season finale.
The Brooklyn Nets put a cap on a disastrous 2025-26 season Sunday, taking the 136-101 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
This now means Brooklyn ends at 20-62 overall, its worst season since the 2016-17 season. That Nets team also finished with the same mark.
Brooklyn dealt with one injury after another in this lost campaign. Leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. couldn't finish out the year with his ankle injury. Key rookies Egor Demin and Danny Wolf got shut down with foot and ankle ailments, respectively.
Even Nolan Traore became a Sunday scratch, as he was ruled out with an illness before the game at Toronto. Josh Minott (left ankle), Noah Clowney (similar injury), Nic Claxton (finger sprain) were among the other players ruled out beforehand.
Brooklyn rolled with only seven players for the Friday loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Head coach Jordi Fernandez managed to play more players, but only eight healthy ones.
Tyson Etienne ended the evening as Brooklyn's leading scorer with 20 points, which he pulled off in 37 minutes. He made 6-of-16 field goals including two from 3-point land.
EJ Liddell joined Etienne in reaching double figures by hitting 17 through 27 minutes. Liddell pulled down four rebounds too.
Chaney Johnson tacked on 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting with 36 minutes given to him on the floor. But Johnson delivered the double-double in hauling in 13 rebounds.
Rookie Ben Saraf added to the double-digit scoring options in finishing with 15 points. Saraf nailed 6-of-10 from field goal range. He also delivered two steals.
Jalen Wilson came close to surpassing the 10-point mark and settled for nine on the evening. Drake Powell joined two other teammates in getting eight points: Trevon Scott and Malachi Smith.
As a team, the Nets shot 40.7% from the floor. But struggled to deliver consistency from 3-point land by hitting only 26.5% of their baskets there.
The Raptors out-rebounded Brooklyn 43-38 on the evening. But the Nets delivered the most offensive rebounds at 13-3. Brooklyn also lost the basketball 15 times and only got 11 points off turnovers.
Toronto especially wore down the Nets with points in the paint, pummeling Brooklyn with 72 total while the Nets settled for just 44.
Brooklyn is assured a top three selection in the upcoming NBA Draft and now hold the best odds to claim the No. 1 pick.
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