Brooklyn Nets pushed around by Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies in chaotic 135-119 loss

The Brooklyn Nets became the first NBA team this season to sweep a series over an opponent when they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies on November 4th. Two weeks into the season, Jordi Fernández’s team had achieved two wins over the easternmost Western Conference. team, and wouldn’t see them again for another year.

That is, until group stage play in the Emirates NBA Cup was decided, and one of the two games Brooklyn got on their schedule after was against the Grizzlies on Friday night. Hard luck.

Since Brooklyn’s second win over Memphis, the Grizzlies have found their way. An injury to rookie center Zach Edey didn’t affect them as much as the return and continued health of their top three players: Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. Led by those three and coach Taylor Jenkins, Memphis has taken on a style unlike any other season in franchise history.

They’ve been the best transition offense in the league, and most teams don’t have the talent to keep up with a healthy Memphis team in a 48-minute court meeting. Net included. As tight as they have been this season — and as much as a fast-paced game might help them with an anemic transition offense — Brooklyn would need to bring the physicality and get some stops.

They didn’t.

They kept pace with Memphis by shooting 7-of-15 from three in the first quarter, but Memphis was already up ten transition points at that point, and got off to a start that propelled them for the rest of the night. Brooklyn’s offense was flat in the second quarter, and the Grizz took a 13-point lead into the locker room.

Still, it was a fantastically entertaining match through 24 minutes. Even Ben Simmons and the bench got in on the fun as their unit rolled out the starters early and kept the visitors within striking distance…

Alas, the fast pace of the game favored the Grizz. Not only did their talent shine in a shootout, but the Nets kept it going match in transition. They entered Friday as the least effective team when pushing the tempo, according to Cleaning the Glass, and did little to change that in Memphis…

Dorian Finney-Smith led Brooklyn in first-half scoring, finishing with a season-high 19 points on five 3-pointers, staying hot, and while Brooklyn’s scoring was well-balanced, it was no match for Memphis’ stars, plus Santi Aldama.

Although Ja Morant dominated en route to a 18/5/6 half, his most notable play came after the buzzer in the second quarter when he came face to face with Jordi Fernández after ending the half with a bucket…

But these Nets aren’t getting punked, regardless of the talent disparity. They opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run, cutting the deficit to 74-72 midway through the period.

Alas, that was the height of their attempted comeback. Memphis’ three stars and Santi Aldama all scored 20+ points, and Aldama in particular hit some ridiculous shots in the second half. Brooklyn occasionally showed some fight in their defense…

…but all too often their perimeter was porous. Morant & Co. easily broke the first line and got the Nets into rotation, and on the rare occasion they didn’t, the Grizzlies got out on the fast-break.

Said Finney-Smith: “We had live turnovers and they converted. They’re a fast team and they scored off marks. And coach, you know, he told us what they were going to do, but as a team we had to do a better job of executing the game plan. So they like to play fast, they got in the paint and they did exactly that.”

In fact, Memphis scored a whopping 70 points in the paint. Transition, half court, whatever. Except for a five-minute stretch of pride in the third quarter, Brooklyn was overwhelmed in Memphis.

Nic Claxton tried to even the score, but couldn’t repeat his big game against Milwaukee. He scored eight points on 4-of-11 shooting; Jaren Jackson Jr. stripped him on his first two drives of the game and that set the tone for the evening.

Between Claxton’s ineffectiveness, soft defense everywhere and a hot Grizzlies team that shot 47% from deep, the Nets had no room for error and had 18 turnovers. But they did, and Memphis was able to run away and hide in the fourth quarter, despite the Nets keeping it within shouting distance in the first three.

However, the fourth quarter was notable for even more extra courses. Once again, Morant taunted the Nets bench, but Brooklyn ran out of time to respond with their play, so they responded with words. Dennis Schröder went up to head coach Taylor Jenkins to return the favor and it quickly turned into a tech fest…

But DFS said it best after the game: “If we don’t want him to bark, we have to go out there and fight. You know, we can’t just fight with our words. As the coach says, we’re going to go out and beat them.”

In the end, the Nets didn’t, which is why they’re not going to revel in putting Morant and the Grizzlies in their place on Friday night.

Although Fernández said Morant’s actions were “disrespectful” and “not part of the game,” the Brooklyn head coach largely kept the focus on his own team.

“We just didn’t deserve a better result. If you go back to playing defense, you give up 135 points, you don’t deserve to win, that’s for sure.

Final score: Memphis Grizzlies 135, Brooklyn Nets 119

Damage report

Trendon Watford did not play in Friday’s contest, and while it initially did not appear to be injury-related, Fernández stated after the game that Watford was not “loose” enough to play and that he “didn’t want to chance it.”

However, the head coach said it was partly a rotation decision as Noah Clowney was a healthy scratch last game but took Watford’s place in the rotation today. With all of Brooklyn’s bigs now healthy, it looks like Jordi Fernández will have to make some tough choices every game, although we’ll see if Watford’s game shows up on the next injury report.

But a net that is damaged? “Jacky” Cui Yongxi, the two-way guard from China who tore his ACL in Long Island’s last game, as our Scott Mitchell covered. Ahead of Brooklyn’s contest against Memphis, Fernández had some words for his injured rookie…

“He’s a guy that just brings positive energy every day. Smile on his face, he just brings happiness. Ready to work and every group needs that positive energy and work ethic.”

In a press release, the Brooklyn Nets stated that they expect Cui to make a full recovery for next season.

Milestone Watch

• Dorian Finney-Smith scored a season-high 19 points tonight. All of his 19 points have been scored from 3-point range (5-of-8) and the free throw line (4-of-5).

Sitting with Cam Johnson

Earlier Friday afternoon, the Brooklyn Nets posted my preseason sit-down with Cam Johnson on their social media channels. We broke down his 2023-24 film in six minutes, focusing on the finer points of being a great NBA 3-point shooter, from mentality to footwork to court awareness.

Next up

Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images

The second game the Brooklyn Nets added to their schedule in the wake of the NBA Cup game isn’t much easier. They return home to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 PM ET.