Brooklyn Nets
Team Leader
Nets get first win of season in back-and-forth battle with Indiana Pacers
Source: https://www.netsdaily.com/nets-scor...-vs-pacers-112-103-nic-claxton-michael-porter
The Brooklyn Nets were alone in the win party waiting room Wednesday morning. For two weeks, they sat beside the New Orleans Pelicans, who somehow found a way to start this season in an even more disappointing fashion than their last. It looked certain to spiral further when the Pels put Zion Williamson on the injury report with a left hamstring strain Tuesday, but they managed to sidestep 0-7 and the bouncer.
While some pre-season commentary from Brooklyn’s owner and some early efforts from the team (or lack thereof) might’ve led you to believe the Nets were happy to be on the outside looking in, anyone paying attention realized that wasn’t the case. The losses stacked up — and embarrassing feelings festered.
So tonight, they did something about it.
Brooklyn’s first five this evening indicated their eagerness to change things up early on. The starting group included Terance Mann at the point and a returning Michael Porter Jr. at SF. The latter quickly reintroduced himself to Brooklyn fans and the Pacers, putting up eight points on 3-of-3 shooting to lift the Nets up 15-6 four minutes into the game.
The Nets managed to stay in front of Indiana after one by a 25-18 score, topped off with a play you probably thought they didn’t have the facilities for, until they did…
Alley-oop… to BEAT the 1Q buzzer
Tyrese Martin runs the break to perfection & with perfect timing!
Watch LIVE on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/bmsnufr6Zl pic.twitter.com/mZy8x7WVDc
— NBA (@NBA) November 6, 2025
Brooklyn led after one for the first time all season tonight, despite having their best excuse of the year to be down big early. Cam Thomas, who’s shot-making has singlehandedly carried the Net offense for much of this young season, exited the game at the 6:25 mark of the first. He was ruled out shortly after with hamstring tightness, the same injury which limited his season to just 25 games last year.
Though a quarter late, the Nets eventually did fall behind. Indiana kicked open the door in the second with an 8-0 run to seize the lead. After an opening frame of Aaron Nesmith bricks and mistimed low-post moves from Pascal Siakam, Indiana found its offense, starting 8-11 from the field and 4-5 from three.
However, they didn’t fall apart…
After that Day’Ron Sharpe poster and a handful of tough sequences from point guard Terance, the Pacers enjoyed a 9-0 burst and took a 57-49 lead, their biggest of the game, with 1:27 to go in the half. Still, the Nets finished the second just as they did the first, pulling to within five as we hit the break…
another quarter, another buzzer beaterpic.twitter.com/ZxIm0FV4xJ
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) November 6, 2025
After Porter Jr.’s fast and Indiana’s slow starts, everyone returned or regressed to the mean. While MPJ still led all scorers with 20 by that point, he shot just 3-7 from the field and 1-5 from deep. Meanwhile, the Pacers posted .640/.556 shooting slashes in the frame. Reminder: they did this without Tyrese Haliburton, Johnny Furphy, Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin, and T. J. McConnell.
The second half burst open with the same shock that closed the first. For starters, Rick Carlisle lasted only eight seconds in it. After a bang-bang play where the Nets attempted to steal an inbound pass on Indiana’s end of the floor, officials quickly awarded Brooklyn the ball. They inbounded it, Porter Jr. splashed a three, and Carlisle let Marc Davis have it.
Without their coach, the Pacers fell back behind. Punishing Isaiah Jackson inside one moment and then any other defender holding his early season 3-point percentage against him the next, Noah Clowney pitched in eight points to begin the third. He finished with 17 points and four rebounds for the game after shooting 6-9 from the field and 2-5 from deep.
“When he plays like this, he just looks like a grown man at 21,” Fernández said of him. “Focused, he can help us on the boards, he can shoot the three, he’s an overall player…He definitely has the grit that we’re looking for.”
The chaos continued as the period progressed. An energized Nic Claxton multitasked like an octopus with a lengthy to-do list, defending the rim, occasionally switching, and rim running on the break.
“We know we can play through him,” Fernández said. “When he’s aggressive, then things open up, and I think he’s just making the simple play every time. Even in transition, I trust him 100% and that’s what he’s doing. He’s getting better.”
However, Siakam was eager to race beside him, as was Jay Huff to let it fly, who nailed two in the frame.
That all culminated in several minutes of back and forth basketball which put the Nets down three entering the fourth. Egor Dëmin got in on the action too, not shooting inside (yet), but at least getting there, and dishing.
In the game’s closing moments, Brooklyn looked like the only winless team in the NBA, but for all the right reasons. You could see their will to win with every loose ball pursuit, crash against the boards, and blitz in the back court. Not to be undone by Claxton, Mann also brought his his tow-way talents to the table in the clutch, running the offense at one end to queue up threes for the suddenly hot Tyrese Martin and ripping balls away from Siakam at the other.
Mann, touted in his NBA career for being a “glue guy,” had his best game as a Net by those standards. The Nets threw him into a ball-handling role tonight and were then forced to double down on it after the Thomas injury. He responded to unfamiliarity and unexpectedness with poise and precision, finishing with 15 points, six assists, and two steals while shooting 5-12 from the field.
He, and everyone for that matter, seemed to channel their desperation to their advantage.
“That’s the team we want to be — a disruptive team,” Fernández said. “We look like a selfless group, and we look like a connected group, and that’s the that’s the way that we want to get better.”
The Nets led 101-93 with just under three to go, and looked like they were going to finally do it. A Ben Shepard triple cut the lead to five with about two and a half to go, but the Nets refused to crumble even as the pressure mounted.
Clowney, turning in his second consecutive 15+ point game, shook Siakam on the perimeter before driving and kicking to Martin, who nailed another triple to make it nine with 1:34 to play. Nesmith, known for late game theatrics vs New York teams, of course hit a three to again make it six with just over a minute to go, but Brooklyn drew the curtain on the night soon after that.
After each team turned it over on three straight possessions, a Siakam layup made it four with 30 second to go, but Porter Jr., who also started the game for Brooklyn, then ended it, drawing a foul and goaltend call on the next possession.
That only left a few seconds for Indiana to chug down the court one more time and put up a quick heave, which the Nets rebounded and then iced the game.
“I think we had effort last game, we didn’t win it, but I think we we played harder,“ Clowney said. ”We had it today. We wanted to win, and we did that.“
That, they did. Welcome to the party, boys.
Final: Brooklyn Nets 112, Indiana Pacers 103
Milestone Watch
- Nic Claxton’s 17 assists in the last three games mark his most assists in any three-game span in his career.
- Noah Clowney posted 16 points (6-of-9 FG) in 25 minutes for Brooklyn tonight in his second start of the season, recording 15+ points in consecutive games for the third time in his career.
Injury Report
If Jordi Fernández knew anything else about Thomas’ injury postgame, he made sure not to share it. He said he did not know if it’s the same injury as the one Thomas suffered last year, despite both being tagged as hamstring strains.
“It’s just tightness,” he said. “We haven’t announced anything else…we’ll give you guys more information, and the only thing that I can say is he’s done a great job. He’s worked on his body, he plays, and he’s played really hard. So there’s a lot of things he’s got to work on, but it’s part of basketball. ”
Next Up
Brooklyn’s returns home Friday night to host the Detroit Pistons and take part in their first NBA Cup action of the season. The Nets have yet to move past the group round in the tournament’s now three year existence. They don’t seem likely to change that this year, but you never know. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Also Friday, you’ll be able to watch three of the Nets first round picks — Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf — play their first game for the Long Island Nets at Nassau Coliseum. That game starts at 7:00 p.m. ET and can be viewed on the G League website.
- Boxscore: Brooklyn Nets 112, Indiana Pacers 103 – NBA
- Game Highlights: Brooklyn Nets 112, Indiana Pacers 103 (Video) – NBA
- Highlights: Michael Porter Jr. 32 points, 11 rebounds (Video) – NBA
- Nic Claxton breaks down his 19-point night against Timberwolves (Video) – YES Network
- Noah Clowney on his hard effort in loss to Timberwolves (Video) – YES Network
- Porter scores 32 as Nets beat Pacers 112-103 for 1st win – Phillip B. Wilson – AP
- Michael Porter Jr. leads Nets past Pacers for season’s first win – Larry Fleisher – Reuters
- Nets beat Pacers to finally snag first win of season despite losing Cam Thomas to injury – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Cam Thomas exits against Pacers with familiar Nets injury – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Nets’ Cam Thomas ruled out of Pacers matchup after injuring hamstring – Erik Slater – Clutch Points
- Fans have hilarious reactions to Nets’ first 2025-26 win – Paolo Mariano – Clutch Points
Source: https://www.netsdaily.com/nets-scor...-vs-pacers-112-103-nic-claxton-michael-porter
