Nets fall apart at home vs. Atkinson, Cavaliers

In their first game since Dennis Schroder was traded to the Golden State Warriors, the Brooklyn Nets suffered a home loss at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers and their cast of familiar faces.

Without Schroder, Jordi Fernandez expressed a desire to pick up the offensive tempo after handing over the reins to Ben Simmons.

“We will try to play faster,” Fernandez said before the game, via The Athletic. “The ball will fly.”

On Monday evening the ball simply flew in the wrong direction.

After an impressive sequence from Simmons seconds into the contest – a steal, a slam, an assist and a strong rebound – Brooklyn broke 14 turnovers in the first half, resulting in a 25-point deduction to Cleveland.

Led by former Nets Kenny Atkinson, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert, the Cavaliers responded to an early 7-0 run in Brooklyn with a 25-3 run of their own and a separate 19-5 run shortly thereafter.

While LeVert made six of his eight three-point attempts in just 11 minutes, Brooklyn only managed six made field goals in the second frame.

At halftime, the hosts trailed by 32 points, their largest deficit of the 2024–25 season.

Despite being beaten at home, there was no lack of effort. Even without Schröder’s leadership, there’s still no end in these Nets. The scoreboard simply reflected the opposite.

After the break, the bankruptcy at the Barclays Center only continued.

Late in the third quarter, Dorian Finney-Smith and Day’Ron Sharpe orchestrated a 10-3 run to cut Cleveland’s lead to 21, but that was the closest Brooklyn was able to get the rest of the night.

Jalen Wilson and Sharpe proved to be the Nets’ only bright spots, as the former scored 13 points on 4 of 11 shooting. The latter scored a season-high 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting, although both still finished with a negative plus-minus. However, they weren’t the only ones.

Every single member of Brooklyn’s squad that entered the match ended with a negative plus-minus, ironically a complete contrast to their opponent. Not surprisingly, every single member of the opposing side finished with a positive plus-minus.

Although Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland combined for just 29 points, the Cavaliers had seven players with double figures in the scoring column, led by Evan Mobley with a team-high 21 points.

This game was essentially over by the end of the first quarter, but the Nets’ performance throughout the contest was beyond commendable. In the first game without Schroder, an experienced leader and top scorer, Brooklyn looked completely lost.

But that could all be part of the plan.

The Nets are now 10-16, good enough for 11th place in the Eastern Conference and just six and a half games ahead of the worst-seeded Washington Wizards.

With the game against the league’s top team in the spotlight, Fernandez’s team travels to Toronto to take on the Raptors this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Click to access the final score of the Nets vs. the Cavaliers Here.

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