Nets' Rising Prospect Talks About Fourth Quarter Comeback Against Pacers

Trendon Watford broke down the Nets' fourth quarter efforts against the Pacers.

Mar 20, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Trendon Watford (9) dribbles the ball while Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

On Saturday night, the Brooklyn Nets faced off against the Indiana Pacers, completing a back-to-back set after their match on Thursday night. While the Nets came into the match looking to bounce back off of their loss earlier in the week, they wouldn’t get off to the strongest start.

After the opening quarter, Brooklyn found themselves behind 25-28 after Tyrese Halliburton had a ten-point performance.

This deficit would only grow in the second quarter as Indiana continued to pile on the pressure, with the Nets trailing by nine points at halftime. Jalen Wilson and Keon Johnson were two of the leading scorers for Brooklyn in the opening half, which was enough to keep their team relatively in the game.

All of this work would be blown away in the third quarter as Indiana grew their lead to 20 points, which looked to be the final nail in Brooklyn’s coffin.

But this couldn’t have been further from the truth, as the Nets ignited in the closing frame, outscoring the Pacers 33-18, which was more than enough to bring them back into the game.

Cameron Johnson would heat up from the field, scoring ten points, while Trendon Watford would drop eight points. These eight points would be a smaller part of Watford’s impressive scoring display against Indiana, ending the night with 26 points and five assists.

According to Watford, one of the biggest things that caused a shift in Brooklyn’s offensive production was the change in tempo that Jordi Fernandez wanted.

"Coming into the fourth quarter, he [Fernandez] wanted us to play faster, get up shots faster, and then we knew we was going to be doing a lot of trapping stuff,” explained Watford. “That’s what our mentality was just fly around the whole quarter... I think we showed that we don't stop fighting so that's good."

The “trapping” style of defense would work wonders for the Nets, as the Pacers would commit six turnovers in the fourth quarter alone.

This defensive strategy and their offensive focus of rebounding and finding their shooters would be another important aspect of their fourth-quarter comeback.

"We were just doing a lot of trapping, hitting and getting it out of some of their bench player's hands, and having some people we wanted to shoot the ball," said Watford. "I think we was just getting the rebound and pushing, keeping it fast on offense.”

Despite these efforts, Brooklyn would fail to walk away with the win, falling to Indiana, 103-108, bringing their record down to 23-48.

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