The Brooklyn Nets (17-56) have been looking to win a game for quite some time as they began their current west coast road trip on a six-game losing streak. Brooklyn went into San Francisco, California hoping to get a win over a hobbled Golden State Warriors (35-38) team that just lost Moses Moody for the season, but the Nets weren’t able to take advantage of the opportunity.
The Nets lost at the Warriors on Wednesday 109-106 despite forcing Golden State to commit 26 turnovers, leading to 28 points for Brooklyn in front of a hostile Chase Center crowd. Forward Ziaire Williams once again led the way for the Nets with his 19 points and six steals while forward Jalen Wilson continued to take advantage of the extra playing time as he dropped 15 points and three rebounds.
The Nets held their own against Draymond Green and Golden State through the first three quarters, amassing as much as a 13-point lead in the game before the Warriors made their comeback in the fourth quarter. Green did his part as the veteran by stuffing the stat sheet (seven points, five rebounds, three assists) for Golden State, but Gui Santos was the star for the Warriors with his game-leading 31 points in 35 minutes.
This was yet another game where Brooklyn was being tasked with executing in the clutch (defined as a game within five points in the last five minutes) and the result was another loss. Despite the Nets shooting well on the offensive end (48.1% from the field, 36.4% from three-point land), they still have a losing streak as Golden State out-rebounded Brooklyn 43-27 and was 28-of-36 from the free-throw line.
In the end, the Nets did what they could to be in position to win on the road, especially when considering that Williams, center Nic Claxton, and forward Terance Mann did not play in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, Brooklyn comes out of Wednesday’s loss at the Warriors with a nine-game losing streak and the Nets will be hoping to pull off a major upset of Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
Ziaire Williams Wreaking Havoc On Both Ends Of The Floor
Williams has been playing his best basketball of the season in March and he proved that once again by finishing Wednesday’s game with 19 points and six steals while playing just 24 minutes. In this month, Williams is now averaging 13.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 51.6% from the field and 51.4% from three-point land.
Jalen Wilson Showing Off His Scoring Ability
Wilson has had his playing time throughout the season fluctuate wildly depending on how many players within the usual rotation are available for any given game. Given that Brooklyn has been dealing with several injuries to key members of said rotation, Wilson has been seeing more playing time and his performance against the Warriors showed his ability to score as he finished with 15 points while generating eight free-throws.
Ben Saraf Continues Best Stretch Of Season
Saraf has had his fair share of struggles during his rookie season, but March is looking to be his best month of the year by far because of how he’s putting together different parts of his game. After putting up 14 points, seven assists, and two steals in Wednesday’s loss at Golden State, Saraf is now averaging 9.1 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 42.6% from the field and just 9.5% from behind the three-point line.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: 3 Nets takeaways from 109-106 loss at Draymond Green, Warriors
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
