The Brooklyn Nets finally have a win on the board! Michael Porter Jr. dropped 23 points and Julius Randle added 20 to lead the charge, securing a hard-fought 98-90 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night. It was their first W of the season, and you could practically feel the relief from Brooklyn.
Scraping By in the First Half
Talk about a battle in the first half! These teams came out looking sluggish, with the Nets only managing a 12-10 lead on a Randle three-pointer with under five minutes left in the first quarter, erasing the Pacers’ last lead. Brooklyn shot a rough 38% from the field in the first half. Ouch. But somehow, they still managed to take a 43-40 lead into halftime. How? A lot of it came down to the Pacers shooting even worse, hitting just 32% from the field and a brutal 4 of 20 from three-point land. Plus, the Nets absolutely owned the glass, snagging a 43-37 edge in total rebounds, with Day’Ron Sharpe pulling down a team-high 13 boards for a big double-double, adding 15 points to that effort. He was a force!
Holding Off the Comeback Amidst Injury Concerns
The Nets started to pull away in the third quarter, stretching their lead to 12 points three different times, ending the period up 71-62 as both teams found a better shooting rhythm. But the Pacers weren’t ready to roll over just yet. They clawed their way back, cutting the deficit to a tense 75-72 in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Larry Nance Jr. and Andrew Nembhard, who finished as Indiana’s leading scorer with 23 points. Pascal Siakam added 17 for the Pacers. However, that was as close as Indiana would get, as the Nets locked it down the rest of the way. You have to wonder if the Pacers’ lengthy injury report played a factor, with Obi Toppin (lower back injury) out for his second straight game, Ivica Zubac sidelined with a left ankle sprain, and Tyrese Haliburton expected to miss another 10 days or more with a hamstring strain. The Nets weren’t entirely healthy either, with rookie Mikel Brown Jr. sitting out for load management.
The Nets will look to carry this momentum right into Monday night when they head to New York for a rivalry game against the Knicks. Meanwhile, the Pacers will host Atlanta on Monday, hoping to get some of their key guys back on the court and turn things around. That first win feels good, but they’ll need to clean up those early shooting woes to keep the good times rolling!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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