The Brooklyn Nets were in danger of falling to 3-5 to open the year while down three starters in Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson and Ben Simmons Wednesday vs. the Los Angeles Clippers. That fate looked likely when Cam Thomas, Brooklyn's top scorer to start the season, exited with an ankle sprain in the third quarter.

Brooklyn led by one when Thomas went down, and the Barclays Center crowd began to brace for a swift collapse. But as has been the case early this year, Brooklyn's depth wouldn't let it happen, carrying the team to a 100-93 victory over the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George-James Harden-led Clippers.

Once again, the Nets' bench led the way, outscoring Los Angeles' reserves 45-17. With Thomas out and Mikal Bridges struggling, head coach Jacque Vaughn handed the keys to Brooklyn's offense to Lonnie Walker IV in the second half. The minimum signing answered the call, scoring a season-high 21 points.

Walker has been among the NBA's top bench performers this season, averaging 16.5 points and 3.0 assists on 52/43/74 shooting splits. Following the win, the first-year Net detailed what has allowed Brooklyn to compete on a nightly basis amid a slew of injuries.

“We got a lot of dogs on our team, it’s just that simple,” Walker said. “Our guys, they got a chip on their shoulder, and they got something to prove… Everyone’s here to eat. We got a lot of players that are starving on this team. They wanna play and they wanna prove themselves… Tonight is a clear example of how hard and how hungry we are as a team collectively and individually, which is the greatest thing because when you put that together something special happens, and that showed today.”

Lonnie Walker IV was one of several bench contributors to step up during the win. Following a poor start, Day'Ron Sharpe scored nine fourth-quarter points and finished with 10 rebounds, leading Brooklyn to a 14-10 advantage on the offensive boards.

After practicing with Brooklyn's G-League affiliate in Long Island early Wednesday, Trendon Watford was recalled and made an immediate impact. The 22-year-old posted nine points, five rebounds and two assists while handling the ball for spurts with Simmons out. The appearance was Watford's first extended action since Brooklyn's comeback win at Miami last week, during which he posted 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Dennis Smith Jr.'s defense overwhelmed the Clippers' big four of Leonard, George, Harden and Westbrook, who combined to shoot 24-of-63 (38.1%) from the field and 6-of-26 (23.1%) from three.

“You look at Dennis, he was a gnat on the defensive side. Trendon had a full-out game earlier this morning and still came out and played a terrific game,” Walker said. “So I think our bench and a lot of players that don’t even play (regularly), when they get the opportunity to play, we just got a lot of dogs that are ready to go.”

With the bench keeping the game within reach, Brooklyn's starters did enough down the stretch to secure the win. While Mikal Bridges struggled offensively (10 points on 4-of-11 shooting), he turned in one of the best defensive performances of his Nets tenure while guarding Harden for most of the game.

Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O'Neale scored 12 points apiece while each draining four threes. The duo also combined for 19 rebounds, with Brooklyn playing small-ball lineups for a large portion of the game with Simmons and Claxton out.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Mavs

Tomer Azarly ·

clippers mavericks prediction

Nathanial Duffett ·

Dallas Mavericks player PJ Washington

Preston Byers ·

Spencer Dinwiddie struggled for his first 24 minutes of action. The Clippers had cut the lead to four and were building momentum when he entered the fourth quarter for the first time with two minutes remaining. Dinwiddie had shot 1-of-7 from the field to that point, but that didn't deter him from stepping back and draining a dagger corner three with 1:17 left to put Brooklyn up seven.

Following the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the new-look Nets are a team without a star. However, that lack of star power and a slew of injuries haven't stopped them from competing while shorthanded against the upper echelon of the NBA early this season.

Entering the first season of a new era, Brooklyn harped on a collective vision throughout training camp, and Vaughn said Wednesday's win exemplified that mindset.

“It's why I like doing this man, to get a bunch of dudes together to try to have a common goal and be unselfish on a nightly basis and try to get a win together and compete harder than the dude in front of you,” the coach said. “That's the greatest part of team sports right there.”