Erik Slater Articles - Page 31

“It’s a make-or-miss league.” The phrase so commonly used by Kevin Durant this season has routinely doomed the Brooklyn Nets late in games since trading the all-time great scorer. The new-look Nets held the NBA’s 23rd-ranked 4th-quarter offense over 20 games heading into Wednesday’s matchup vs. the Houston Rockets. However, in a game where Brooklyn […]

The Nets’ lack of depth behind breakout center Nic Claxton has been a frequent talking point this season. Brooklyn ranks 29th in rebounding, allowing 11.4 offensive boards per game. The glaring roster hole had largely been viewed as an indictment of second-year big man Day’Ron Sharpe’s lack of development. The 29th pick in the 2021 […]

The Brooklyn Nets ruled out Ben Simmons for the remainder of the season Tuesday, officially ending the three-time All-Star’s underwhelming 2022-23 campaign. Simmons was diagnosed with a nerve impingement in his back Friday after 15 consecutive absences post-All-Star break. The 26-year-old sat out all of last season while citing a back injury and mental health […]

If there’s one positive the Brooklyn Nets can take from their 119-106 loss in Orlando Sunday, it’s that Mikal Bridges has the look of a budding star. The breakout forward poured in 44 points, one shy of his career high, on 13-of-22 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 from three. Bridges set career high’s in […]

The Brooklyn Nets failed to build upon a dramatic comeback win over the Miami Heat on a quick turnaround in Orlando Sunday. Brooklyn fell 116-109 to the Orlando Magic, with several negatives from their recent five-game losing streak resurfacing. 3 Nets takeaways from decisive loss vs. Magic 3. Defense falters on back end of back-to-back […]

“Stay ready” has been the motto of the Brooklyn Nets’ bench unit throughout the 2022-23 season. With the ever-changing nature of the roster through suspensions, injuries and a pair of blockbuster trades, that motto has been put to the test. One of the faces at the forefront of the movement has been first-year Net Edmond […]

If there was ever a must-win game for the Brooklyn Nets this season, it was Saturday’s matchup in Miami. Brooklyn came into the game on a five-game losing streak that pushed them a half-game back of the Heat to seventh in the Eastern Conference. Miami entered winners of seven of their last 10. The Heat […]

The Brooklyn Nets are not expecting Ben Simmons to return this season after the three-time All-Star was diagnosed with a nerve impingement in his back, head coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters Saturday. “Ben was going through the process of strengthening, being on the court, being reevaluated. During one of those reevaluations, the impingement presented itself,” […]

The Brooklyn Nets did everything necessary to set themselves up for a much-needed win Thursday vs. the Cavaliers. They turned a weakness into a strength, out-rebounding Cleveland 26-14 in the first half to open up a 10-0 second chance points advantage. Mikal Bridges and Spencer Dinwiddie combined for 57 points on 20-of-34 shooting. And they […]

Five weeks have passed since Ben Simmons last appeared in a game for the Brooklyn Nets. There has been little indication that he will anytime soon. Despite insistence that the three-time All-Star is “progressing”, head coach Jacque Vaughn has been unable to provide a timetable for Simmons’ return. Vaughn notably denied rumors on four separate […]

The three-point shot is more prevalent than ever before as the NBA moves further into the age of analytics. That reality has given the term “live and die by the three” a whole new meaning, especially for a team like the Brooklyn Nets. With an influx of three-point shooting wings following the trades of Kevin […]

The Brooklyn Nets’ early-season suspension of Kyrie Irving for social media posts linking to an antisemitic film drew a strong response from several NBA players. Among those voices was Jaylen Brown, a former teammate of Irving’s and vice president of the players union. Brown doubled down on his Nets criticism Tuesday, calling the terms of […]

The Brooklyn Nets fell from perennial contender status to a fringe playoff team following the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Through all the dysfunction of the last two-plus seasons, one viewpoint surrounding the Nets remained consistent: no one wanted to face them in a first-round series. That fear factor dissipated with the departures […]

The Denver Nuggets’ matchup with the Brooklyn Nets Sunday brought former Net Bruce Brown, Jeff Green and Deandre Jordan back to the Barclays Center. Brown and Green played alongside Brooklyn’s big three of James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant during the 2021-22 season. And neither was surprised the once-heralded trio officially imploded at this […]

The Brooklyn Nets are battling for their playoff lives with 11 games remaining in the regular season. Following a three-game losing streak, Brooklyn’s lead on the Miami Heat for sixth place in the East has been whittled down to one game. And one area that plagued the Nets early this year has carried over to […]

Basketball is a game of runs. The age-old adage rings true now more than ever before as the NBA shifts towards a fast-paced, 3-point-heavy style of play. The Denver Nuggets’ run came in the first quarter Sunday. Despite a late-game rally from their second unit, the Brooklyn Nets were unable to match it during a […]

The Brooklyn Nets were riding high when they took down the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets for their fifth win in six games one week ago. Since then, they have dropped two straight, tightening their race with the Miami Heat for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn welcomed Denver for a rematch Sunday after the […]

Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie is no stranger to run-ins with referees during his career. The veteran has developed a reputation for jawing at officials throughout nine NBA seasons. His rocky relationship with the league’s refs made headlines early this season when Tony Brothers referred to Dinwiddie as a “b***h-a*s mother f****er” to one of […]

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn set a challenge for his team when speaking about their main focus coming out of the All-Star break: “We have to be the hardest-playing team in the league,” he said. “When you look at us on film, when you look at us live, when you look at the first […]

It has been over a month since Nets big man Ben Simmons has played in a basketball game. During that time, Brooklyn has provided little to no clarity on when the three-time All-Star will return. That uncertainty has been par for the course for Simmons over his last two NBA seasons. He sat out all […]

The Brooklyn Nets are progressing toward a deal with free agent center Moses Brown, sources tell The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The move comes after Nerlens Noel’s 10-day contract expired Wednesday. Noel struggled to make an impact in three games with Brooklyn after a buyout from Detroit, averaging 1.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 14.3 minutes. Brown […]

The Brooklyn Nets had made a living in the third quarter on their road trip heading into Tuesday’s matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Brooklyn dominated the period in three games against the Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, averaging 35.7 points while holding opponents to 20.3 on 34.9 percent shooting (22-of-63) with 4.3 […]

The Brooklyn Nets came into Oklahoma City Tuesday after two grueling wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. Brooklyn failed to end a five-game road trip on a high note as they squandered an early lead in a 121-107 loss to the Thunder. After the Nets led by 10 at the break, a third-quarter collapse […]

The Brooklyn Nets had an opportunity to close their five-game road trip on a high note in Oklahoma City Tuesday night. They appeared on their way to accomplishing that goal when they entered the half with a 10-point lead. However, a second-half collapse would leave the Nets with a sour taste in their mouths as […]

The Brooklyn Nets earned hard-fought road wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets in their last two games. Both victories came down to the wire, with Minnesota and Denver mounting late-game comebacks. Those clutch moments turned into the Spencer Dinwiddie show. In the final three minutes against Minnesota (including overtime) and Denver, the veteran […]

The Brooklyn Nets were poised to embrace a defensive identity after acquiring Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie at the trade deadline. Unlike the majority of the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era, the team was suddenly stacked with athletic, defensive-minded wings. But those returns did not show up during a 1-6 start with […]

The Nets clawed out a 122-120 road win over the Denver Nuggets Sunday, their fifth in six games. Brooklyn led by 14 points with 8:40 remaining before Denver stormed back to cut the lead to one behind MVP-favorite Nikola Jokic. But like Friday’s win at Minnesota, the Nets wouldn’t go away, fighting in the final […]

One question outweighed all the rest for the Brooklyn Nets after trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving: Where will the offense come from? The idea of replacing two of the greatest isolation scorers in the history of the game, as well as the team’s top two playmakers, was daunting for the new-look Nets. Mikal Bridges […]

The Nets clawed out a thriller 124-123 overtime win over the Timberwolves Friday night. After trailing by eight at the half, Brooklyn outscored the Wolves by 17 points in the third to take control of the game. The Nets led by three with 1.3 seconds remaining, but Minnesota would not go away with Naz Reid […]

The Brooklyn Nets effectively punted on Thursday’s game in Milwaukee, the front end of a back-to-back, by sitting Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Johnson, Nic Claxton and Royce O’Neale. After the Nets fell behind by 17 points at the end of the first quarter, Mikal Bridges, Seth Curry, Dorian Finney-Smith and Joe Harris would also remain out. […]

Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas appeared destined to step into an expanded role after becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score 40-plus points in three consecutive games last month. 10 games into the new-look era, he’s trending in the opposite direction. The sophomore played just seven minutes in each of Brooklyn’s wins over […]

The Brooklyn Nets will be severely shorthanded when they travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks Thursday. Nic Claxton (right thumb sprain/left Achilles tendinopathy), Cam Johnson (right knee soreness) and Royce O’Neale (left knee soreness) will all be out for the matchup. Claxton has been among the top defenders in the league while manning […]

Following a season in which the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving experiment finally collapsed, general manager Sean Marks is expected to remain with the team next year, sources told the New York Post. The Durant-Irving era was marred by off-court drama and severely underwhelming on-court results. Brooklyn appeared destined to make a title run in […]

After dropping six of their first seven games with a revamped roster, the Brooklyn Nets looked left for dead this season. However, the last three games have given the new-look team life. Brooklyn fought back from 28 points down in Boston Friday, the largest comeback in the NBA this season and the largest in franchise […]

Nets center Nerlens Noel will make his Brooklyn debut Tuesday at Houston after the team signed him to a 10-day contract Saturday. The 28-year-old struggled to carve out a role in Detroit early this year, playing just 12 games before eventually agreeing to a buyout. Noel, the 6th overall pick in the 2013 draft, ranked […]

Mikal Bridges has turned heads across the league following a blockbuster trade to the Brooklyn Nets. The 26-year-old is emerging as the Nets’ leading scorer after the team acquired him as part of a package for Kevin Durant at the deadline. Bridges briefly impressed in an expanded scoring role for the Phoenix Suns with Devin […]

The new-look Brooklyn Nets opened up their first win streak of the post-Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving era with a 102-86 victory over the Hornets Sunday. The win comes after the Nets rallied from 28 points down Friday in Boston, matching the largest comeback in franchise history. Brooklyn led by as many as 37 points during […]

Nets big man Ben Simmons has yet to play post-All-Star break and it remains unclear when he will be back. Brooklyn head coach Jacque Vaughn said Friday that Simmons is experiencing back soreness on top of a nagging knee issue that initially led to the extended absence. The coach said Sunday that the 26-year-old recently […]

Friday’s Nets-Celtics matchup at TD Garden looked like a continuation of Brooklyn’s post-Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving nightmare early in the second quarter. The Nets trailed Boston by 28 points and appeared more disinterested with each point the seemingly insurmountable deficit grew. Then something changed. The high-level defense the Nets pictured when they brought in Mikal […]