Rookie guard Nolan Traore earned his second straight begin for Brooklyn in Sunday’s preseason rematch with the Phoenix Suns, the second of two NBA China Video games in Macao. After Friday’s additional time thriller, each groups performed like they’d unfinished enterprise.
Not like Friday’s assembly, the Suns got here out sharper and extra aggressive, establishing a back-and-forth battle that led to a 111-109 Nets victory as soon as the mud settled. Michael Porter Jr. opened the sport firing confidently from deep, and Cam Thomas picked up proper the place he left off, flattening photographs from all around the ground to gasoline one other quick offensive begin.
Nonetheless, the Nets struggled to include Devin Booker, whose 3-for-3 begin from past the arc helped the Suns construct an early double-digit lead.
Halfway by way of the quarter, head coach Jordi Fernández turned to his bench, subbing in Ziaire Williams, Day’Ron Sharpe, Noah Clowney and rookie Ben Saraf whereas retaining Thomas on the ground to anchor the offense. In want of a defensive spark, Fernández turned to rookie Drake Powell, recent off his preseason debut in Friday’s loss, inserting him over Tyrese Martin with the second unit.
Phoenix stored its foot on the gasoline within the second quarter, stretching a 34–23 benefit after one to 14 factors with 9:19 left within the half. Nonetheless, Sharpe’s power on the glass and bodily play inside ignited an 8–0 run, trimming the deficit to 6 with 6:28 left within the half and forcing a Suns timeout.
Three free throws from Thomas, after drawing a foul on Dillon Brooks with 8.6 seconds left within the half, reduce the deficit to 2 heading into the break. He led all scorers at halftime with 15 factors on 4-of-7 capturing, together with 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Brooklyn closed the half with confidence after a sluggish defensive begin.
Traore struggled early within the second half towards Phoenix’s ball stress, committing three straight turnovers and 4 in his first 17 minutes. He was changed later within the third quarter by Saraf, who steadied the offense with 4 assists within the interval and completed with a game-high 11 assists to only three turnovers in 22 minutes.
Nonetheless, eight turnovers within the third quarter led to 12 factors for the Suns, and Phoenix’s 57.1% capturing within the interval created an 88–81 deficit for the Nets coming into the fourth quarter.
Although Martin didn’t see the ground till the fourth quarter, he made probably the most of his alternative, scoring 9 fast factors on excellent 3-for-3 capturing (2-for-2 from deep) in simply 5 minutes. He capped the run with a three-point play off a pointy feed from rookie Danny Wolf to tie the sport at 103 with 3:21 remaining.
After Jared Butler’s 3-pointer tied the sport at 109 with 17.9 seconds left, Martin drew a foul on a deep shot on Brooklyn’s subsequent possession and calmly sank two of three free throws to present the Nets a late edge. The Suns’ closing full-court heave was deflected as time expired, sealing Brooklyn’s comeback win.
Thomas led the Nets with 16 factors on 4-of-12 capturing, however as soon as once more it was the rookies who stole the highlight. Regardless of Traore’s turnover troubles, Brooklyn obtained encouraging performances from its younger core — together with 9 factors and 4 assists from Wolf in simply 12 minutes, together with one other robust displaying from Powell.
Brooklyn will wrap up its preseason schedule on Friday when it visits the Toronto Raptors.
Initially Printed: October 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM EDT
