3 takeaways from the Brooklyn Nets comeback win vs the New Orleans Pelicans

In a season that seems to have grit, high stakes or “going the extra mile” themed so far, it was only right for the Brooklyn Nets to end their first road trip of the year with a comeback win tonight in New Orleans.

While the Pelicans came into this one pretty battered and suffering injuries to CJ McCollum, Zion Williamson and legendary Net hypothetical Dejounte Murray, they still presented the Nets with a daunting task to begin the work week. Brooklyn lost three of their last four against New Orleans before tonight – all of which came in blowout fashion.

But with their trademark tenacity, a boatload of threes and a favorable no-call on a late jump ball, the Nets got it done. Ziaire Williams also got his first start in net. Noah Clowney had a career night and Cam Thomas was a 6’3″ sleeping giant who woke up at just the right time. Here’s what else went down.

Ben off the Bench has a promise

Ben Simmons entered this season with 332 NBA games under his belt — starting all but a dozen of them. Now counting tonight’s contest and its predecessor, he has inflated that number to 14, and the results argue that it should continue to grow.

We last saw Simmons against Boston when he sat out the back-to-back against Cleveland. In Beantown, he finished with eight points, eight assists and six boards while making six shots — his most in a game all season. Jordi Fernández has repeatedly expressed a desire for Ben10 to increase his field goal attempts, so while still a modest stat line, it represented a step in the right direction.

More were taken tonight. After entering the game six and a half minutes into the first, Simmons led the Nets on a 21-12 run that gave them a lead in the second frame. He tallied 10 assists in the half, setting a unique half record for himself as a net, finishing with six points, 12 dimes, five rebounds, two steals and three turnovers. He took five shots and finished as a +8 for the game.

So what’s the difference here between his production off the bench and as a starter? I will give you two reasons – one from a new school and one from an old school basketball approach.

For you basketball modernists, that’s easy math, and probably an equation you’re already familiar with. Simmons coming off the bench means he plays less with Claxton, which improves the spacing around him and makes it easier for him to play his ball game. Working next to Clowney instead of Clax opens up more passing lanes for cutters and shooters. There is also more room for Ben to operate the drive and apply pressure to the rim. That last one might just be wishful thinking at this point – but hopefully you get the idea.

From the eye test perspective, Simmons simply appears to have an extra layer of chemistry with a handful of players more likely to play with him off the bench than as a starter. Most notable tonight was Jalen Wilson, who often plays as Brooklyn’s seventh or eighth man.

I mentioned on Saturday that while Jordi Fernández opting to bring Simmons off the bench is the right move for the Nets, it’s also one that makes Day’Ron Sharpe’s role on this team difficult to define. That’s still the case today, but for some reason, Brooklyn’s biggest problem for nearly two years now has been their inability to get significant production from Ben Simmons. The Nets should be happy to take this away from him now regardless of the cost.

There is still no quick break

With New Orleans harboring a handful of injuries and consequently a shortened rotation, it would have worked in Brooklyn’s favor tonight to test the legs of their opponents. Whether designed or not, they nonetheless declined, generating only six transition points.

But while it would have made sense for the Nets to exploit this weakness for the Pelicans, it shouldn’t come as much of a shock that they didn’t. It’s a small sample size, but so far this year, Brooklyn ranks second last in the league in turnover points per game. battle, only behind Minnesota Timberwolves.

It’s fine to call this state a curious one given Brooklyn’s emphasis on conditioning going into the season, but it shouldn’t be confusing if you’ve been listening to Fernández throughout the year.

While the Nets do indeed prioritize hustle, they also play fairly conservatively when it comes to forcing live-ball turnovers, which remains the easiest way to start a fast break in the league.

“We’re a ball-pressure team, but we’re not a gambling team,” Fernández said pregame today. “So I don’t want my players to go for steals. A lot of times you play against very good offensive teams that we’ve played. So you do your job with your ball pressure, but you know, one creates events, creates turnovers because of your ball pressure and the other is you trying to play. So we don’t mind.”

Gambling, stealing, whatever you want to call it, held the Nets back tonight, forcing a moderate 11 turnovers. You can’t argue with the process when the Nets came away with the dub, but it will be something interesting to watch as the season progresses given the fine line between hustle and danger.

Never out of it with CT

If this game felt a little hollow to you going into its final frame, it’s probably because it lacked a god-level Cam Thomas moment for so long.

It was still a pretty modest game for the Bayou Bucket in the box as Thomas finished with 17 points after shooting 6-10 from the field. However, Thomas came through with 10 of them in the fourth, including his final three, which felt like they counted a little more than the rest.

Whether it’s his fault or not, most late games involving Thomas over the past year and a half have not ended well for him or Brooklyn. Most recently, we saw a memorable closing performance from him painted over by a Denver Nuggets W after Nikola Jokic and company cruised to an overtime victory minutes after Thomas hit two incredibly difficult shots that gave his team the lead with less than a minute left.

However, this shot is being enjoyed by Nets fans at full capacity. Even if Fernández tried to call a timeout before it, or even if some of you would have preferred him to miss it in favor of the tank, it was a reminder that with Cam Thomas, there will almost always be some buckets, and with that , a chance to win.