Brooklyn Nets Head Coach Jordi Fernández Reacts to Back-to-Back Defeats

The Brooklyn Nets are now 4-6 after an overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nov 8, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez during the second half against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images / Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets lost both legs of their most recent back-to-back, dropping consecutive games against the Boston Celtics and now the Cleveland Cavaliers to fall to a 4-6 record.

Cameron Johnson led the team in scoring with 23 points against the Cava, while Cam Thomas and Dennis Schröder each added 22. The Nets were outscored by Cleveland 18-35 in the last period after having grown a 14-point lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter. 

“We cannot get to the point where we’re in position to get the win but then we make mistakes that [are] controllable,” head coach Jordi Fernández said after the defeat to the Cavs.

The first-year head coach also shouldered his part for the loss. Fernández mentioned being “better” with his substitutions and “cleaner” with his end-of-game play calling. 

“Like I told the guys, it is my fault,” he said. “I ran Dennis [Schröder] 12 minutes in the fourth. I didn’t give him a break. That’s how your execution goes down. That’s how your defense goes down. I didn’t give Cam Thomas breaks, and then, at the end, we paid for it.” 

Thomas last checked into the game with 8:37 left in the fourth quarter and didn’t sub back out. The same applies to Schröder, who got into the game about 40 seconds later. 

“I like the competitiveness … but it’s not good enough, and we want to be good,” Fernández said.

Brooklyn is not good yet — but that was not the expectation for this season. Rather, it might be worth writing about how the Nets have been better than anyone imagined, let alone those who set the team’s over/under for wins this year at 19.5 before the season. 

The team has a clear identity and, seemingly, a path forward. In his first nine games as head coach, Fernández has beaten the Milwaukee Bucks once, the Memphis Grizzlies twice and taken the last two NBA Champions (Boston and the Denver Nuggets) to close overtime losses. That, already, is far better than the consensus expected. 

It is indeed likely that, at some point this season, the Nets will put together a firesale of sorts. Schröder and Johnson, plus the likes of Dorian Finney-Smith, seem available pending a truly generous trade offer. The team will then get worse and “meet” its goals in the 2025 NBA Draft — but until then, Nets fans should enjoy this current iteration of their squad, which is fun, competitive and together.

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