The Brooklyn Nets (2-2) had the chance of clinching a playoff spot in the Las Vegas Summer League on Thursday when they faced a Houston Rockets team looking to achieve the same goal. However, Brooklyn fell to the Rockets 100-83 and that meant that the Nets missed out on earning a top-4 spot and now, they will be playing in the consolation round.
The NBA announced Friday morning what the entire schedule would be for Saturday and Sunday in the Las Vegas Summer League, including who the Nets would be facing after missing out on the playoffs. Brooklyn will be playing their last game of the Las Vegas Summer League on Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder (0-4) at 4:30 PM ET on ESPN.
Heading into Friday’s slate of games, the Nets rank 11th in the league in terms of record as they are 2-2 and have a point differential of +8.5, despite their 17-point loss to the Rockets. Prior to Thursday’s contest against Houston, Brooklyn was 2-1 with a +25.5 point differential, meaning that if they beat the Rockets, they would have been set for the second seed in the summer league playoffs, which is now occupied by the Memphis Grizzlies.
In Thursday’s loss to the Rockets, the Nets had a slow start that doomed them in the end as they were on the wrong end of a 28-13 extended run in the first quarter. Despite guard Egor Demin once again leading the team in scoring with 21 points to pair with three rebounds, he and the rest of the team struggled to score against a Houston defense that was pressuring all over the court at times.
Prior to Thursday’s loss, Brooklyn showed that they may have had what it took to get to the playoffs as they beat the New York Knicks 91-65 and the Sacramento Kings 115-83 on the way to its 2-1 record. Even in the Nets lone loss, a 83-76 defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks, they made things interesting in the end. Either way, Brooklyn will have to wait until next year for a chance to play for a summer league championship.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets to play summer league consolation game Sunday vs. Thunder
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire | USA TODAY Network
