While the Brooklyn Nets are in a massive rebuilding project and many losses are anticipated, coach Jordi Fernandez would like to see some better defensive showings.
Coming off their most lopsided loss so far, the Nets will attempt to end a season-opening five-game home losing streak Tuesday night when they host the Toronto Raptors.
The Nets have a league-worst 126.6 defensive rating, and seven of their nine losses to date have been by double digits. They allowed more than 130 points for the fourth time through 10 games when they trailed by as many as 39 in a 134-98 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Brooklyn allowed 77 points by halftime and gave up 17 3-pointers. Opposing teams are shooting 41% from 3-point range and 52.2% from the field against the Nets, both worst in the league.
“Those are the situations we want to grow, having attention, a level of attention and communication to all those things. And it’s not happening,” Fernandez said.
“I know our guys have the ability to be way better, and we have very high expectations for our guys on how they work and how they compete. And there’s a lot of room to improve. So that’s the exciting part. From now to Game 20 to 30, 40 and all the way to 82, we want to see improvement. So, right now we’re in a good spot because it should be easy to improve this.”
Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points against the Knicks, including 13 in Brooklyn’s 40-point second quarter, but he was held to three after halftime as the Nets were outscored 57-36.
The Nets will continue to start Egor Demin after he scored 18 points over his first two starts. They hope to see more from fellow rookie Drake Powell, who finished with 15 points against the Knicks.
Toronto started with four losses in five games before reeling off wins in four straight. That streak stopped Saturday when the Raptors could not keep pace in a 130-120 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley scored 22 apiece while Brandon Ingram added 21 and Scottie Barnes finished with 18 in the second contest of a five-game road trip. The Raptors hit 16 3-pointers on Saturday but shot 45.6% overall — their second-lowest percentage through 10 games.
Ingram was also fined $25,000 by the league for forcibly throwing a water bottle into the ground in the bench area during Saturday’s game. It hit a game attendant on a ricochet, and the incident led to a brief game delay due to the floor getting wet.
Jakob Poeltl was held out for the fourth time this season to manage a lower-back injury. He was not listed on the injury report ahead of Tuesday’s game and is expected to face Brooklyn.
Without Poeltl, the Raptors allowed 64 points in the paint and were outrebounded 54-38 by the 76ers.
“They’re a tough team getting in the paint,” said Quickley, who has averaged 18.3 points over the past three games. “We got to cut off that paint a little bit more, rebound, but that was probably it.”
