Inside The Nets

Lonnie Walker IV believes the second-half performance against Cleveland is a promising sign

The Nets were superb with the second-half performance against the Cavs in Paris.

Marin Gabric

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The Brooklyn Nets had another slow start to a game in their NBA Paris matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. At halftime, the score was 34-54 in the Cavs’ favor, making it hard for the Nets to win the game.

Brooklyn did their best to mount a comeback as they outscored the Cavs 68-57, but it was not enough. The game ended in a 102-111 scoreline, but the Nets are taking the positives from the result, including premier backup Lonnie Walker IV.

“You gotta find the bright side between it all. The second half, how we played. Even considering the free throws, we won the second half by 11 points,” Lonnie said to the media after practice. “That just goes to show that when we pick up our level of physicality, when we picked it up defensively, in transitions into our offense.”

The Nets will continue evolving on offense

Lonnie was superb in the game against Cleveland, scoring 20 points and having one of his best games after returning from his month-long injury. Similarly, Mikal Bridges and Cameron Thomas were also pretty good against the Cavs, scoring 26 points apiece.

All three players contributing on offense is a good sign for Brooklyn because they need everyone to evolve on offense. Mikal is continuing his growth as an isolation scorer, making him a reliable player for Brooklyn.

The same goes for Cam because coming off the bench was a massive change for him, but he remains a superior scorer to the other 22-year-olds in the league. By continuing on the momentum they built in the second half against Cleveland, Brooklyn will be hard to beat.

The defense needs to be on that level again

Brooklyn has struggled on defense this season, but in that second half against Cleveland, they were locking up. Almost every Net was in the passing lanes while playing energetic defense.

Spearheaded by Dennis Smith Jr., Brooklyn playing that kind of defense influences how they can stand out on offense. The Nets play their best basketball when they’re out and running, which was evident in that half.

Moving forward, Coach Jacque Vaughn and his squad would want to play like that again. If they can keep doing that, Brooklyn will be on the path to the Playoffs again as long as everyone stays healthy.

Mikal Bridges reacts to soccer superstars watching the Nets play in Paris

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Marin Gabric
MARIN GABRIC

Marin's love for writing developed in high school but was furthered in college when he took a number of creative writing courses. Doing sports writing felt like an extremely natural continuation, as it furthered his passions in both writing and basketball.  Marin loves the feeling of looking at stats after a game and analyzing what each team could've done better or what they excel in compared to the rest of the league. And the ability to do so for his favorite team, the Brooklyn Nets, is quite special in itself. 

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