Protection set the tone and carried Brooklyn house.
The Nets restricted the Toronto Raptors from the opening tip by means of the ultimate possessions, pulling away late for a 96-81 win Sunday night time at Barclays Heart to maneuver to 8-19 on the season.
After struggling towards the Miami Warmth, Michael Porter Jr. led the best way with 24 factors on 9-for-18 capturing, plus 11 rebounds and 5 assists, and Brooklyn received a lift from its rookies, too.
Brandon Ingram paced the Raptors with 19 factors, 5 rebounds and three assists.
Brooklyn caught an early break within the opening quarter when Toronto’s main scorer, Ingram, headed to the locker room with 5:40 left and the Nets holding a 14-11 edge. The Nets leaned into that second defensively, tightening up on the perimeter and limiting clear appears to be like as Toronto struggled to seek out rhythm with out him.
Then with 4:17 remaining within the interval, the Nets turned to Nolan Traore for prolonged minutes. The rookie guard, recalled from Lengthy Island with Drake Powell sidelined, settled in rapidly. Traore constantly received into the paint and located open shooters, even when it resulted in only one help throughout his first 11 minutes on the ground. He nonetheless made his presence felt offensively, scoring on a powerful drive to the rim and later flattening a pull-up 3-pointer.
Protection continued to drive Brooklyn’s success from the opening minutes on. The Nets held Toronto to 18 factors within the first quarter, tied for the fewest they’ve allowed in a gap interval this season, and carried a 24-18 lead into the second.
Ingram returned to start out the second quarter, and Toronto responded with an 8-2 burst to tie the sport at 26 with 10:30 left within the half. The groups remained locked in a good contest till late within the interval. With the rating tied at 36 and three:20 remaining, Egor Demin buried a 20-footer, adopted by a pair of free throws from Porter. Brooklyn then seized management, closing the half with three straight 3-pointers from Noah Clowney, Porter and Demin to construct a 10-point cushion on the break.
By halftime, Brooklyn had held Toronto to 39 factors on 40.5% capturing whereas forcing 12 turnovers, marking the fewest factors the Nets have allowed in a primary half this season. Porter scored an environment friendly 17 factors in his first 17 minutes, whereas Raptors All-Star Scottie Barnes was restricted to simply 4.
A 15-point third-quarter lead slipped away as Brooklyn’s offense went ice chilly. The Nets shot simply 23.1% within the interval, with solely Porter and Clowney changing discipline targets. Toronto did sufficient on 40.7% capturing to outscore Brooklyn 26-18 and pull inside two coming into the fourth.
That momentum carried into the ultimate body, the place Toronto grabbed its first lead because the second quarter with 10:55 remaining. Demin rapidly answered. The rookie guard knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers, with a Terance Mann basket in between, to swing the lead again to Brooklyn and provides the Nets a six-point cushion with 7:54 left.
Toronto scored simply eight factors the remainder of the best way because the Nets closed out a season-low 81-point defensive effort.
Clowney completed with 19 factors and 9 rebounds, whereas Demin added 16 factors, 5 rebounds and three assists. Each went 4-for-8 from 3-point vary. Traore chipped in eight factors, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in a career-high 22 minutes off the bench.
Brooklyn returns to motion Tuesday towards the Philadelphia 76ers at Xfinity Cell Area.
