On Friday, the Nets got a huge one, an impressive 113-105 win over the Celtics before a raucous green-clad sellout crowd of 19,156 at TD Garden. Michael Porter Jr. poured in 16 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter. Center Nic Claxton added his first triple-double (18 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds) and rookie Egor Dëmin chipped in 12 points, six boards and five assists.
Jordi Fernández says the rebuilding Nets can’t let all these losses turn them into losers, that tasting victory has them wanting more.
On Friday, the Nets got a huge one, an impressive 113-105 win over the Celtics before a raucous green-clad sellout crowd of 19,156 at TD Garden.
Michael Porter Jr. poured in 16 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter. Center Nic Claxton added his first triple-double (18 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds) and rookie Egor Dëmin chipped in 12 points, six boards and five assists.
The Nets (3-12) staved off elimination in the NBA Cup and beat a good team for the first time this season. Their other victories had come at Indiana and Washington, their primary rivals in the tank race for lottery positioning.
So how does a tanking team committed to developing a record five first-round rookies go through the inevitable defeats and growing pains and develop winning habits?
“It’s something that you have to live day to day,” Fernández said. “It’s not something you just say one day and that’s it. Going back to the beginning of our season, we played some games where it felt like our competitiveness was not there.
