Player grades: Seth Curry scores 23 in Nets’ demoralizing 112-102 loss to the Thunder
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets welcomed the Oklahoma City Thunder to Barclays Center on Sunday and lost 112-102. This is the first of two meetings between the teams this regular-season. Oklahoma now leads the series 1-0.
For the Nets, Seth Curry had 23 points off the bench and Nic Claxton had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks. Royce O’Neale had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists while Kyrie Irving had 15 points.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points and seven rebounds while Josh Giddey had 28 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Lu Dort had 22 points and Isaiah Joe had nine points off the bench.
In almost a repeat of the loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday, the Nets were competitive for the first three quarters and was up by 10 points at one point. There were too many times where Brooklyn forgot to cover someone, whether at the three-point line or at the rim, and it doomed them in the end.
As has been the case throughout this season, Brooklyn had trouble limiting dribble penetration. Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey were able to get to the rim at will and even with Claxton having four blocks, the Nets struggled to defend the paint. Nets guard Ben Simmons was a late scratch for this game due to back soreness.
Here are your Nets player grades:
Edmond Sumner: C-
Sumner was unable to get anything going offensively against the Thunder. Normally, the Nets could count on him getting some points by driving to the rim, but he struggled finishing at the rim. However, he did a good job of passing the ball and not turning it over. Unfortunately, Sumner wasn’t much help in this one as he was in foul trouble for most of the game.
Kyrie Irving: C
It was a struggle for Irving to score all night long. Despite getting a good amount of decent looks at the basket, he was unable to find a rhythm at any point in this contest. Some of that seems to be stemming from the fact that Irving has to create all of his shots which seems to lower his efficiency. Despite the poor shooting, Irving did a good job of rebounding and passing the ball while playing some decent defense. Unfortunately, Irving was unable to get comfortable with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander guarding him most of the night.
Joe Harris: D
Harris had an okay night shooting the ball. He had a good start to the game on the offensive end, but as the game wore on, his shot continued to elude him. Harris did a good job on the glass, but, other than that, his turnovers and defense leave a lot to be desired if tonight is any indication.
Royce O'Neale: A
O’Neale had a wonderful game. Normally, O’Neale just shoots threes and creates something on offense to get his assists. However, without Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons in this game, O’Neale took it upon himself to be the facilitator to help out Kyrie Irving. O’Neale was everywhere as he was rebounding and was playing good defense in spots. However, O’Neale got blown by a lot in this game.
Nic Claxton: A
Claxton was awesome in this game. He did a good job of remaining patient while in the dunker spot and took advantage of some lapses in OKC’s defense. He did a good job of finishing at the rim and dunked with authority. He had a great job rebounding on the glass and had his own block party while protecting the rim.
Markieff Morris: C
Morris did not play much in this game, but when he was on the floor, he provided some good minutes. He was aggressive on the offense end and did a solid job on the glass and sharing the ball. It looks like Morris’ lack of defense was the reason that he didn’t see the floor after his initial stint.
TJ Warren: C-
Warren did not have his best shooting game in this one. He started off the game with barely looking at the basket, but towards the end of the first half, he started to find his rhythm. Unfortunately, that rhythm did not carry over into the second half as his touch went away. He did a solid job on the glass, but his defense left a lot to be desired as he seemed to have trouble staying in front of Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey, and Dort.
Yuta Watanabe: C+
Watanabe had a good game despite the box score not showing much. He had a poor night shooting the ball, but he was great crashing the glass and had some nice passes as well. He played some good, tenacious defense on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but SGA is one of the better players in the NBA for a reason. Watanabe seemed to be uncomfortable trying to make any moves using his dribble and OKC left the drive wide open as they emphasized closing out on shooters.
Seth Curry: A
Curry did a great job of scoring in this one. As he has been known to do when he gets on a heater, Curry was scoring from all over the court. He had a below-average night shooting the three, but he was awesome in working the mid-range part of the court and was even able to get some nice drives going to the rim and finishing.
Patty Mills: D
Mills was unable to get anything going in this one. Brought off the bench because of Edmond Sumner’s foul trouble, Mills did not provide much value on either end. He was inefficient with his shooting and his defense usually leaves a lot to be desired. But, he did provide some energy while on the floor and he had some good moments.
Day'ron Sharpe: C-
Sharpe did not do much in this game as his time on the floor was limited. He did not attempt a shot, but he did a solid job on the glass. However, he looked uncomfortable within Brooklyn’s offensive sets as he was played alongside Nic Claxton which was a questionable move at best. Sharpe did a decent job of defending the rim.
