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NEW ORLEANS — Three nights after a 130-93 loss at Dallas, the Brooklyn Nets scored 83 points in the first half. They beat the New Orleans Pelicans 145-111 on Wednesday night as Egor Dëmin returned from a six-game absence with 22 points.
The Dallas loss had dropped Brooklyn to 2-8. “We were not connected, and we made a lot of mistakes,” Nets coach Jordi Fernández said after that game.
Dëmin had been out with a bone bruise in his leg. He went 4-for-6 from 3-point range in 23 minutes and scored 12 in the fourth quarter, three of them at the line after a flagrant foul by Zion Williamson. Michael Porter Jr. also scored 22, and eight Nets finished in double figures as Brooklyn improved to 3-8. New Orleans has lost four straight and is 4-8.
Fernández said the night showed “how ready he was to get back,” pointing to Dëmin’s passing and shot-making along with “driving into the paint and playing with a lot of pace.” Dëmin passed the credit along. “I honestly didn’t try to force anything,” he said, crediting teammates “who were finding me in those situations where I could be successful for them.”
An 83-Point First Half
After New Orleans scored first and led 5-3, a Julius Randle layup tied it and a Porter dunk put Brooklyn ahead for good. The Nets shot 61.5% in a 39-point first quarter, then made 12 of 16 shots and 16 of 18 free throws in a 44-point second. Moritz Wagner scored 13 off the bench before halftime as Brooklyn led 83-66, its highest-scoring first half since scoring 91 against Golden State on Dec. 21, 2022.
Williamson scored 20 of his 29 points by halftime. Despite shooting 60%, New Orleans trailed by 17.
Brooklyn opened the second half with an 8-0 run, including 3-pointers from Dëmin and Day’Ron Sharpe, to take a 91-66 lead. New Orleans shot 5-for-21 from the field and missed all eight 3-point attempts in the quarter, as the Nets entered the fourth ahead 107-81.
“Yeah, the game plan was get stops and run, right?” Dëmin said.
Brooklyn’s Bench Finishes It
Jordan Poole opened the fourth with a layup, but the Nets fired back by scoring 17 of the game’s next 18 points. Keon Ellis and Wagner opened with 3-pointers, Dëmin added two more, and Ellis finished the run with a three-point play to put the score at 124-84. Drake Powell’s 3-pointer midway through the period pushed Brooklyn’s lead to as many as 41.
Brooklyn’s reserves outscored New Orleans’ 59-57, led by Noah Clowney and Wagner with 16 apiece and Ellis with 11 on 3-of-4 shooting. Among the starters, Sharpe made 5 of 6 shots for 15 points and blocked 4, and Danny Wolf had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
“I thought it was very unselfish basketball. And you know, I thought we played the right way,” Dëmin said.
Nine Nets made at least one 3-pointer as Brooklyn went 20-of-41 from deep and 35-of-42 at the line. Their 15 turnovers, two of them shot-clock violations, were one fewer than New Orleans committed.
Fernández said Brooklyn took many of the same catch-and-shoot looks in Dallas and missed them. “And today, you know, like that’s how it works. You just gotta stay with it. Don’t second guess yourself,” he said. The 15 turnovers, he added, were “just one over my limit.”
For New Orleans, Williamson finished 8-of-14 from the field and 12-of-14 at the line. Saddiq Bey scored 15 off the bench, and Jeremiah Fears and Poole had 14 apiece. Rookie Jaron Pierre Jr., a second-round pick from SMU who grew up in New Orleans, scored his first NBA basket, a 3-pointer in the final minutes.
New Orleans has allowed at least 138 points in three straight games, including Monday’s 138-87 loss at Golden State, the largest regular-season loss in franchise history. Trey Murphy III missed his second straight game with bilateral patellar tendinopathy. Brooklyn’s first-round pick Mikel Brown Jr. was out with an illness.
Pelicans coach Jamahl Mosley said getting his players “to sit down and guard the way that we need to guard” falls to him. “That is on me,” he said.
Sharpe said one blowout cannot change the Nets’ approach. “We can’t let one win have us overly hype and overly content of what we’re doing,” he said.
Brooklyn ends a four-game road trip in Memphis on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. New Orleans hosts Memphis Friday at 7 p.m. CT, then Denver Saturday.
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