The Brooklyn Nets (2-2) came into Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets (3-1) with the chance to finish in the top-4 of the Las Vegas Summer League so that they could get to the playoff stage. Brooklyn made sure to put their best foot forward in the process by playing guards Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr., but the Rockets were too much for the Nets to handle.
The Nets lost to the Rockets 100-83 thanks to a first quarter in which Brooklyn fell behind to the tune of 28-13 as their shot the ball poorly and couldn’t take care of the basketball. Demin finished the contest with 21 points and three rebounds while Brown had 14 points and four assists as the Nets as a whole struggled to get anything going on the offensive end.
Guard Bruce Thornton led the Rockets in scoring with 23 points and four rebounds while guard Tristen Newton had 20 points and six rebounds of his own. With this loss, the Nets likely find themselves outside of the playoff picture for the Las Vegas Summer League, but after this tough loss, here are three Brooklyn takeaways from Thursday’s loss to the Rockets:
Nets Will Miss Out On Summer League Playoffs
With the Nets losing to the Rockets, Brooklyn missed out on the chance to be the top-4 team in the summer league standings due to having two losses where the playoff teams had only one loss or fewer. If the Nets were able to beat the Rockets, they could have been as high as the No. 2 seed due to their point differential compared to all of the other teams, aside from the Los Angeles Lakers.
Demin, Brown Struggle Against Rockets
Throughout the summer league circuit, Demin and Brown had shown why they were both promising in their own ways, especially given the hype surrounding Brown coming into the summer. Heading into next season, the Nets will likely be starting Brown and Demin, depending on how the point guard competition shakes out in the training camp, but both players struggling against Houston’s pressure was disappointing to say the least.
Drake Powell Remains Inconsistent
Following the end of his rookie season, Powell had plenty of questions to answer regarding his offensive capability given that his defensive ability essentially spoke for itself for the majority of the campaign. While it looked like Powell broke out of his offensive slump in the blowout against the Sacramento Kings, he finished this game shooting 1-of-6 from the field, posing the question of whether the Sacramento game was a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come when he’s confident.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: 3 Nets takeaways from 100-83 Las Vegas Summer League loss to Rockets
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire | USA TODAY Network
