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In a clash of generations, the NBA’s most seasoned team schooled its youngest counterpart.
In a matchup at Barclays Center, the youthful Brooklyn squad, amid a rebuilding phase, faced a tough defeat at the hands of the experienced Clippers, who triumphed 121-105 on Friday.
Brooklyn, featuring an unprecedented five first-round rookies—four of whom took to the court—gained some hard-earned insights from Los Angeles. Unfortunately, these lessons came with their share of challenges.
James Harden delivered an impressive performance, scoring a game-leading 31 points and dominating the paint with 10-of-13 shooting accuracy. The veteran star tallied 15 points in just the first quarter, helping to set the stage for a 16-point deficit for Brooklyn.
Despite dealing with a sprained right ankle, Kawhi Leonard contributed significantly by scoring 13 of his 26 points in the final quarter. Even with 40-year-old Chris Paul absent, the Clippers expertly dismantled what had previously been a robust Brooklyn defense.
“It’s just a new challenge,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “And it goes at the experience and gamesmanship and all that stuff. Obviously we have a couple of Hall of Famers there that our guys have never defended before…We’ll see a lot of iso, a lot of pick-and-roll, and going through those coverages is very important.
“[They’re] a team that plays a little bit different, a team that doesn’t play with all our pace. But everything they do, they do with a lot of purpose, because they’ve been there before. And it’s a great challenge. It’s a great challenge because we have to be (focused), communication has to be on point, effort has to be on point. Then we’ve got to win the 50-50 battles and the rebounds. So, that’s the next step for us.”
The Nets were found wanting.Â
They coughed up 59.2 percent shooting and 58.3 percent from deep, diced up by the Clippers.
Rebuilding Brooklyn averaged a league-low 23.7 years per NBAage.com, while the Clippers were the only team in the league at 30.
Lottery pick Egor Demin led the Nets with 19 points and three steals on 5-of-10 from deep. Michael Porter Jr. added 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals, but had a rare off night shooting just 0-of-9 from behind the arc.
The Nets (11-24) are fifth in the lottery standings, but were closer to ninth than they were to fourth. Brooklyn stayed two games behind the fourth-seeded Wizards, who lost to the Pelicans The Nets are ½ game ahead of the Hornets, and one ahead of the Jazz.
The Clippers are 8-2 after a 6-21 start.
Brooklyn coughed up a 16-2 run to fall behind by 16 midway through the first quarter.
Then they conceded 14 unanswered points in a Clippers blitz that spanned from the end of the first well into the second.
Even Brooklyn’s all-time leading scorer came back to haunt them. Rookie Danny Wolf drove the baseline late in the third, but got his shot blocked by 37-year-old former Net center Brook Lopez.