Brooklyn Nets
Team Leader
Brooklyn Nets fall in home opener to Cleveland Cavaliers
Source: https://www.netsdaily.com/nets-scor...cavaliers-131-124-egor-demin-donovan-mitchell
Kenny Atkinson praised the Brooklyn Nets for how much trouble they gave his team last year before tipoff this evening. With Cleveland eyeing a Larry O’Brien and the Nets eyeing ping pong balls, they gave Cleveland more than any game preview expected, especially in November, when Brooklyn nearly ended their perfect start to the season.
“We know how hard they play; when we’re playing at that intensity for that long, like they do, that causes any team problems,” he said. “So, I know we’ll be in for a fight tonight.”
Neither team’s aspirations for the season changed tonight, but Atkinson’s impression of his old team was surely jeopardized.
Brooklyn’s start to the game was twice as good as their last one — still not great by any means, but better. Cleveland caught them sleeping a handful of times fast breaks and with weak side baseline cuts. They also booted their way into nine first quarter turnovers…
That said, they also had a few fizzles of energy. Newcomers Michael Porter Jr. and Terance Mann snatched some early points from an otherwise air-tight Cleveland defense via their two man game. Veterans Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas did the same…
first Clax Attack of the sznpic.twitter.com/9Wo9epPWOg
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) October 24, 2025
It didn’t acclimate to much on the scoreboard, except perhaps a 10-point deficient rather than a 20-point one. The Cavs went up 23-12 less than four minutes into the game, and the score remained lopsided with Brooklyn shuffling lineups but getting no closer to logical play.
A tough Cam Thomas fadeaway tugged Cleveland’s lead back to a dozen, which had grown as large as 17 by that point, less than a minute before the break. But however, and not soon after, he committed an eight second violation that abruptly ended what should have been Brooklyn’s last possession before halftime. That emblematic play made the score 63-51 at the half.
“We can’t really start off slow like that,” opined Cam Thomas postgame. “Start off slow, turn the ball over, you know, just them getting open threes, getting their momentum up, and then we get in a rut a little bit and it’s tough to come back.”
Switching ends brought no effect to the score, but the third period did give us our first Cam Thomas NBA Jam moment of the campaign. We’ve seen him put up the blinders before, though tonight might’ve been the best use case to do it in his career. Brooklyn’s offense had been shooting just 43% from the floor by the half, so CT put in a quick 13 points in the third quarter, going 5-10 from the field and 2-5 from deep. Though he often initiated possessions determined to shoot, he even dropped in four assists. Thomas went on to finish with 31 points and a tied a career-high with nine assists.
Electrifying as those buckets were, Brooklyn’s run at the lead didn’t come until about 10 minutes later. The Nets opened the fourth quarter shooting 11-13 from the field and 6-8 from deep, making it a six point game with about five to go. It felt like the team’s first run in eight quarters of basketball. It wasn’t without miscues, but I don’t think anyone outside of perhaps Jordi Fernández cared.
That shot for Williams capped off a 25-point scoring night where he shot 9-13 from the field and 6-9 from deep.
As the score tightened, Brooklyn’s defense did the same. Cleveland put up .294/.100 splits down the stretch of the fourth. Even Mr. Whammy, who I’m glad to now call a Hall of Famer, chipped in, forcing four Cavalier misses at the line. After a 45-point third quarter, they put up just 13 in the fourth with only a handful of minutes to spare.
Then, with 3:48 to go, Egor Dëmin walked into a deep triple that made it a one point game. Up until that point, it was a game where you had to keep reminding yourself it’s the home opener, not some snoozer on a Tuesday night in February. Even when Dëmin, the team’s first lottery pick in more than two decades, checked in, the crowd cheered him like you would for a speaker at a work event you were forced to go to.
But in that moment, they applauded him like you would a rising star having his first big moment in front of his fans. Against the odds, “Brooooklyyyyyyn” and “Let’s-Go-Nets” chants were heard, and loud.
“It was great. I think that kinda threw me back to my BYU times, with the crowd we had there with the student section,” Dëmin said of the shot. “It was really cool, honestly. I felt great looking at the stands and seeing people really stand up and cheer for us. It was an amazing moment for me.”
He finished the game with nine points, four assists, and six boards while shooting 3-5 from beyond the arc. Thomas led with 33 points and nine assists, one shy of his career-high. Porter Jr. poured in 31 points after shooting 13-22 from the field and 5-10 from deep.
For Fernández, much of the comeback was about righting the wrongs of Wednesday night in front of the people who it would matter to the most.
“We experienced our first game, and it’s not who we want to be,” he said. “There were some positives, but overall, the feeling was that we didn’t fight enough. Today, for obvious reasons, you’re at home, you get there to fight for a one possession game, the energy in the building, the fans, making the run, the momentum and you know, credit to our guys…I hope everybody felt like the fans were supporting. And that’s what we want. I want everybody here in Brooklyn to be proud of this group, show the grit, and when the adversity hits, you try to overcome.”
After that, the Nets only scored two points. Thomas, Dëmin, and Mann each missed shots one after the other during the following possessions, and the Cavaliers did what they were supposed to, winning the foul game at the line to keep their distance as the clock wound down.
Said Jordi Fernández of the season-opening loss in Charlotte: “There was some positives, but overall, the feeling was that we didn’t fight enough.”
On Friday, there were many tactical negatives. Defensive rotations were off, the transition defense was non-existent until the fourth quarter, and of course, the turnovers themselves. But at the very least, Brooklyn fought: “You’re at home, you get to fight for a one-possession game — the energy in the building, the fans while [we are] making the run, the momentum, credit to our guys. They trusted the pass, ended up with 30 assists. We shot 44 threes and made 19 … Now we got to clean up a little bit more. You know, our pick-and-roll defense, our low man, those little things. But you know, really proud of those guys.”
Fernández, after another frustrating start to the night, walked off the podium emanating proud. Barclays Center was not quite deflated by the loss, still buzzing despite (or maybe because of) poor defense and an exciting finish that didn’t go Brooklyn’s way. In some ways, it was a perfect evening.
Final Score: Cleveland Cavaliers 131, Brooklyn Nets 124
Milestone Watch
- Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. both scored 30+ points for the Nets tonight, making it Brooklyn’s first game with two 30+ point scorers since 11/6/23 vs. Milwaukee (Thomas – 45 & Mikal Bridges – 31).
- Egor Dëmin seven 3FGM in the last two games tie Keegan Murray for the third-most 3FGM by a rookie in their first two career games in NBA history.
- Cam Thomas scored 31 points tonight (11-of-22 FG) with nine assists – one shy of his career high – in 33 minutes tonight vs. the Cavs. It marks Thomas’ first 30+ point game since 11/24/24 at SAC.
- Ziaire Williams made a career-high-tying nine field goals and a career-high-tying six 3-pointers tonight en route to 25 points – his second-most in any game in his career.
MPJ talks about his brother’s gambling case including the death threats he received from gamblers.
In an interview with Brian Lewis, Michael Porter Jr. opened up about his brother’s situation following Thursday’s gambling indictments and arrests. Jontay Porter had been previously banned by the NBA, indicted and pleaded guilty to charges in the same investigation that led to similar charges against Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon James. MPJ said he and Jontay had only recently had a detailed conversation about his brother’s case … and the death threats he faced. The threats were mentioned in Thursday’s indictment but he faced no new charges. Jontay will be sentenced in Brooklyn Federal Court on December 10.
“Yeah, me and Jontay actually recently sat down and had a conversation and spoke for the first time. He told the extent of his story for the first time to me,” Porter, told The Post. “And that was recently, and those details were kind of relayed to me. But for a long time I was kind of on the outside looking in as well, because for a long time he wasn’t trying to involve the family because of the fact that the people that were involved were dangerous people.
“There was threats and there was [danger] and he wasn’t trying to [involve us]. I think for the first time we kind of had a conversation, and I was made aware of some of the details of the situation he was in, which was rough. I still don’t know everything. That means we will have a follow-up conversations. But yeah, it definitely was a complicated, tricky situation. I think there’ll be more information kind of revealed. But the good part about Jontay is he’s at this point very forthcoming and honest. He wants to share his story.”
Next Up
Game No. 3 will take the Nets out west for the first time this season. They’ll visit demigod Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Brooklyn split their series with Spurs last year, though San Antonio won the real battle, jumping the Nets and several others in the NBA Draft lottery to acquire Dylan Harper.
The game starts at 2:00 p.m. EST, so you’ll only have to watch the Jets for about an hour.
- Boxscore: Cleveland Cavaliers 131, Brooklyn Nets 124 – NBA
- Game Highlights: Cleveland Cavaliers 131, Brooklyn Nets 124 (Video) – NBA
- Jordi Fernández on the Nets’ 131-124 loss to the Cavs (Video) – YES Network
- Cam Thomas on Brooklyn’s competitive contest vs. Cleveland (Video) – YES Network
- Ziaire Williams discusses the Nets’ loss to the Cavs (Video) – YES Network
- Nets head to Texas for a back-to-back (Video) – YES Network
- Frank Isola gives his thoughts on teams around the NBA (Video) – Frank Isola – YES Network
Source: https://www.netsdaily.com/nets-scor...cavaliers-131-124-egor-demin-donovan-mitchell
