Brooklyn Nets trampled by San Antonio Spurs avalanche, lose 127-113
Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
Led by Devin Vassell, the San Antonio Spurs played one heck of a basketball game, and that’s not something the Brooklyn Nets can currently overcome. It seems that there was some overreacting to the Brooklyn Nets’ 7-3 stretch in February that wrapped around All-Star Weekend.
I wrote, entering the final third of the season, that Brooklyn was one of the league’s most fascinating teams, tied with the Philadelphia 76ers at 20-34 and just one measly loss out of the Play-In Tournament. What were they going to do? Better yet, what had they already done?
Turns out, not everything is so complicated. The Nets won quite a few games during the dog days of the NBA calendar thanks to out-hustling their opponents, who often shot incredibly poor from three thanks to tired legs as much as Brooklyn’s tenacious defense.
And to be clear, Head Coach Jordi Fernández and his players deserve much credit for multiplying their intensity to close four straight months of NBA basketball. But they haven’t been one of the league’s most interesting teams out of the break because they haven’t needed to be. They may have outplayed chances of top lottery odds, but not much else.
On Tuesday night, they lost their fifth straight game, this one at the home of the San Antonio Spurs. And they were fine, for the most part.
Brooklyn’s offense, freed from worrying about Victor Wembanyama, was abnormally productive. The team shot 46/35/86 on plenty of attempts. The ball rarely stuck, as Cam Thomas led the team in assists (six) while scoring 24 points on 21 true-shooting attempts, looking pretty healthy...
Cam Thomas with a STRONG take off the catch pic.twitter.com/nUQGhSQj4m— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 5, 2025
But the Spurs wasted nothing, scoring 23 points off Brooklyn’s 13 turnovers. Every potential advantage was actualized, whether off a turnover, a long rebound, or a short rebound...
OKAY DEVIN‼️ pic.twitter.com/yYu2rAiwBU— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) March 5, 2025
During Brooklyn’s 7-3 stretch, they had the best defense in the NBA, though I wrote of its fishiness at the time: “Brooklyn hasn’t just taken advantage of great shooting luck, but also the fact that they’ve played some poor passing teams.”
At their best, the Nets have applied irritating ball-pressure and forced drivers away from the middle of the court, instead pushing them toward the sideline, where bodies are aplenty. However, the Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets, and Houston Rockets do not employ many players who can break that scheme by whipping the ball across the court. And when they did generate open threes that way, they often clanged off the rim.
San Antonio did no such thing...
why have Spurs been so successful on O? (Outside of transition)they're passing the ball across the court wonderfully, and (leading to) shooting 48% from three: pic.twitter.com/4Qcg0VV4y9— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 5, 2025
Even on Brooklyn’s lockdown possessions, Devin Vassell was too hot for execution to matter. He scored a career-high 37 on 14-of-19 shooting, as five other double-digit scorers fell into place behind him. De’Aaron Fox and Chris Paul chipped in when needed to make every right play, combining to shoot 11-of-17 with 14 assists and one turnovers, while Stephon Castle brought the boom.
Repeatedly...
Stephon Castle clowning around out there: pic.twitter.com/8bbGqMuKRW— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 5, 2025
The Spurs shot 18-of-39 from three, as Brooklyn’s aggressive defense was broken a bit too easily. They trapped and pressured ball-screens per usual, but once San Antonio made the first pass, the Nets could not rotate and recover.
Said Jordi Fernández: “I think our defense was not good enough, and that’s what we have to embrace right now. Obviously, our team has been changing, the roster ... [but] this was one of our worst performances.”
Devin Vassell’s increasingly ridiculous heat-checks aside, the Nets did this to themselves. Even though they strung together some impressive offensive possessions, San Antonio was still quicker to the ball in every 50/50 scenario, and though Brooklyn never truly folded, they don’t have the horses to fight uphill for 48 minutes.
The Spurs finally broke it wide open in the third quarter, building a 25-point lead amid one of Vassell’s mini-explosions. Thanks to Cams Thomas and Johnson (17 points), as well as some timely buckets from Jalen Wilson and Tyrese Martin, Brooklyn cut it to 14 multiple times, but that’s as close as they’d come.
A long-awaited D’Angelo Russell/Cam Thomas back-court pairing looked fine for the most part, but it was tough to gauge their impact in such a lopsided loss. Hey, Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe getting outplayed by Bismack Biyombo didn’t exactly help any of their teammates...
Said Fernández. “We saw good things, especially on the offensive end ... It’s always great to have two ball-handlers. CT is a weapon, and everybody always has to pay attention.”
The Brooklyn Nets relied on out-hustling, out-toughing their opponents during their best stretch of the season in February. When that’s not an option, how are they going to win games? The simplest answer might be, they’re not. Maybe that’s a good thing.
Final Score: San Antonio Spurs 127, Brooklyn Nets 113
Milestone Watch
Trendon Watford stuffed the stat-sheet, posting 12/10/5/3. That’s a season-high in rebounds, and a season-high-tying three steals
It also marks Watford’s first double-double of the season and his second double-double as a Net.
Brooklyn waives Kendall Brown, signs Tyson Etienne to a two-way
Despite March’s arrival, the Brooklyn Nets are still touching up the roster. Prior to Tuesday’s loss, the team waived Kendall Brown, who was on a two-way contract, and then awarded that open two-way spot to Tyson Etienne.
Etienne, a 25-year-old shooting guard who attended Wichita State for four years, has been with the Long Island Nets since the start of the season. The 6’2” guard is averaging just under 17 points in 40 appearances for Long Island this season, and now fills the last two-way spot in the organization...
The Brooklyn Nets have agreed to a two-way deal with guard Tyson Etienne, agents BJ Bass and Cam Brennick told @hoopshype. Etienne has averaged 16.9 points, including 41.9% from 3-point range, 3.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.3 steals for the Long Island Nets in the G League. pic.twitter.com/6kIkdpdqC6— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) March 4, 2025
Brooklyn does still have one standard roster spot open, and though they remain close to the luxury tax line — which they certainly won’t cross in a non-playoff season — Sean Marks & Co. may not be done just yet. We’ll have a fuller story on Brooklyn’s current roster options up shortly.
Standings Watch
The Toronto Raptors closed their contest against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday evening with Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl on the bench. It was as egregious a display of in-game tanking as you’ll see, and yet, Ja’Kobe Walter’s miraculous game-winner nullified those shenanigans...
Ja'Kobe Walter wild 3 for the win ‼️The rook wins it for the @Raptors pic.twitter.com/um27XE7MeS— NBA (@NBA) March 5, 2025
Despite Brooklyn’s 7-3 stretch in February, their dream of elite NBA Draft Lottery odds is still somewhat alive. Though now in fierce competitive with the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers for the fifth-best odds, it’s certainly plausible that the Nets get there, given their recent play...
That doesn’t include the New Orleans Pelicans and their winning habits as of late; thus, the fourth-best lottery odds are still, barely, on the table.
In the other direction, the Brooklyn Nets have fallen 2.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the Eastern Conference's final Play-In Tournament spot.
Next Up
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
The Brooklyn Nets return home for one single game, and it’s a matchup with Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and the rejuvenated Golden State Warriors. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday evening.
Boxscore: San Antonio Spurs 127, Brooklyn Nets 113 - NBA
Game Highlights: San Antonio Spurs 127, Brooklyn Nets 113 (Video) - NBA
Nets fall to the Spurs on Tuesday (Video) - Nancy Newman & Frank Isola - YES Network
Jordi Fernández on concerns and improvements (Video) - YES Network
Vassell’s career-high 37 points lead Spurs past struggling Nets 127-113 - Raul Dominguez - AP
Devin Vassell’s career night sparks Spurs past Nets - Reuters
Nets’ defense rests in loss to Spurs as skid hits five games - Brian Lewis - New York Post
Nets shut down by Spurs despite Cam Thomas and D’Angelo Russell’s return, losing streak at 5 games - C.J. Holmes - New York Daily News
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