Mikel Brown Jr. on attempting the layup in the final seconds up one rather than pulling the ball out:

“I did see the open lane, and I thought I had a layup, but the ball was kind of already slipping out of my hands, and PG was already coming towards my right side. So I felt like if I didn't go up with it, I kind of was gonna fall out of bounds. So that was my last resort, in all honesty, but I can't make an excuse. There's a lot of plays down the stretch that I messed up on, that I take full accountability for, and I'm gonna be better.

Was it discussed before the play to dribble the ball out?

“It was discussed to just try to get it in, and try to kill time. That definitely was discussed, but like I said, it's just mistakes down the stretch that I just can't make. I just can't do that."

But apparently the team was worried about his friendship with Kyrie. I'm a bit concerned; have they thoroughly vetted everyone on the current roster? What if someone on the current roster is friends with someone who Joe Tsai and Sean Marks dislike?

In all seriousness, Sean Marks defenders are going to have a tough season.

This was before that Fox layup

📊 16 PTS | 4 3PM | 3 AST

📊 15 PTS | 6-9 FG | 3 AST | 2 STL

📊 15 PTS | 5-9 FG | 3 3PM | 3 REB | 2 AST

📊 27 PTS | 12 REB | 6 3PM | 2 BLK

In the final two minutes...

Back-to-back missed threes off the catch (2nd one led to Randle stupidly fouling out).

Missed a stepback iso three when they could've got a better shot.

Whiffed a layup that barely got excused by the challenge.

Then pulls a Fox up 1 with 6 seconds left.

Yeah we're 0-4 now but this would've been a significantly worse learning experience if he got the validation of the W after all of that. Excited to see him be better and grow from this.

It’s alright at least we know he has some ice in his veins . From here on out he’ll be much better and more efficient

We need to know immediately what was discussed during that timeout. Either Mikel has the BBIQ to be an immediate draft bust or Jordi is a flat-out terrible coach

That’s the best loss we’ve seen in yrs bc we finally have hope again. Mikel is a special talent

THE ROOKIE IS HOOPING!!!!

MIKEL BROWN JR BANG!

People keep claiming that fans are being unrealistic bc they wanted a great record. I thought this team would win 30 games this yr and I still think that’s reasonable. My issue and the issue a lot of fans have is how the young players are performing. Egor doesn’t look much like how he did in summer league (it’s early and that was SL but we wanted to see much more growth in the paint), Traore has looked ok, the other 3 from that draft don’t have a role in this team consistently, Noah clowney is pretty much the same, 2 of the rookies we drafted this yr are in the g league and Mikel is on a mins restriction.

We’re just looking at this roster and saying what kind of core is being developed. You look at young teams like the hornets, mavs, grizzlies, wizards. Not even getting into he elite young cores in OKC, San Antonio or Houston. We’ve invested our time money and energy into this team and people have a right to want a reasonable ROI. We should be seeing more progression. We’re not asking for a much where are the role players future starters,.

Interesting cursed scenario called out by the Athletic.

"However, the Nets will be ineligible to win the 2028 lottery if they win it in 2027 — even if that pick goes to Houston. This seems good at first, an incentive against long-term tanking! But it flips if things are going badly and the Nets are in contention for one of the league’s worst records. At that point, Brooklyn would be strongly incentivized to finish in the bottom three and reduce its odds of handing over the first pick in 2027 to the Rockets from 8.1 percent to 5.4 percent … an outcome that would disqualify it from winning in 2028. (Secondarily, it would also devalue its unprotected 2028 first if it wanted to trade it.)

I highlighted Brooklyn, but teams that plan on being good could get caught up in this, too. Three other teams owe an unprotected first-round pick in 2027 but control their pick in 2028 (Atlanta, San Antonio and Toronto). It’s hard to imagine a scenario where any of the three would be bad enough to engage in a tanking premise, but strange things happen."

Game Thread

Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics

FINAL — 124 - 125

Box Scores: NBA

GAME SUMMARY

Venue: TD Garden, Boston, MA

Officials: Jonathan Sterling, JD Ralls, John Goble

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Would this guy be useful in backing up Sharpe? We badly need a rim protector. Maybe marks should give him a call.