The Brooklyn Nets (12-34) had a rough January and looked more like the team they had been heading into December. Brooklyn still has a long way to go on its road trip against the Denver Nuggets (32-16), and despite another impressive comeback by the Nets, there doesn’t seem to be enough time to pull off an upset in Denver.
The Nets came back from trailing by 19 points to lose to the Nuggets 107-103 on Thursday, making the second half interesting. Forward Michael Porter Jr. had his best game of the season against his former team, finishing with 38 points and 10 rebounds, while veteran Terance Mann had 12 points and six rebounds in Brooklyn’s 14th loss of the month.
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The Nets were able to get a lot of offense out of Porter, but the bigger problem was on the defensive end, where they held the Nuggets to 48.0 percent shooting and Jamal Murray to 27 points from the field. Brooklyn has two games left on its road trip, and the losses are piling up right now. Here are the Nets players’ grades after Thursday’s loss to the Nuggets:
Nolan Traore: B
Traore had some encouraging moments in this one, especially offensively, as he started to believe he had the ball in his hands. Traore still needs to refine his game and figure out what the most effective parts of his game are, but until then, it will be interesting to see how he develops in a rotation against a veteran-heavy team like the Nuggets.
Terrence Mann: B-
Despite shooting well from three, Mann struggled to shoot the ball overall against the Nuggets, which shows how much Denver’s frontline troubles him at the rim. Mann also does a good job rebounding and making small-ball plays that head coach Jordy Fernandez wants to see from him, but he’s generally better at handling the ball.
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Michael Porter Jr.: A+
Porter returned to Denver for the first time since being traded to the Nets this summer, and he didn’t let the crowd or his former team forget what he did with the Nuggets. Porter, who will likely make the All-Star team for the first time in his career, showed what he has done all season long for Brooklyn regardless of defensive pressure.
Danny Wolfe: B
With Noah Clowney out for the game due to a back injury, Wolff got a chance to start and performed well on the court. Wolfe is aggressive with the ball, so he’s able to take advantage of some openings the defense gives him while worrying about guarding Porter.
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Nick Claxton: A
Claxton excels at scoring around the rim, although against the Nuggets, the Nuggets didn’t have many opportunities to score without Nikola Jokic at center. With Porter doing most of the scoring, Claxton began to take on the role of rebounding, protecting the rim, and making some nice passes to his teammates on offense.
Jaylen Wilson: C+
With every Nets player out of the rotation for this game, Wilson saw some extended playing time, which he made good use of, especially on the offensive end. While Wilson’s offensive impact hinges on whether or not he hits his shots, this was a game where he kept his cool and drained most of his field goal attempts.
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Daron Sharpe: B-
With the Denver Nuggets moving Jonas Valanciunas to the starting center spot, replacing Jokic, that means Sharp will spend most of the game against Zeke Nnaji, a game Sharp won most of the time. Sharp excelled in the paint and used his patented technique on both glasses to establish his presence throughout the game.
Tyrese Martin: C-
Similar to Wilson, Martin’s playing time has been extended due to injuries on the roster, but although Martin’s shooting performance was good, he still struggled with his shooting performance in this game. Martin has had games this season where he wouldn’t miss even if he was pressured, but he’s also had games where his impact depends largely on his ability to shoot and set up teammates. However, his rebounding performance is very good.
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Derek Powell: C+
Powell was left out of the starting lineup for this game as Fernandez appears to want to add a point guard to the lineup, especially with Jamal Murray waiting on the other side. Although Powell came off the bench, he eventually found his groove offensively. Powell is at a critical point in the season where he must get both sides of the floor to work together, but Fernandez is patient with the rookie.
Ben Saraf: C-
Saraf remains a backup point guard to some degree, but he’s essentially sharing point guard minutes with rookie Nolan Traore as he seems to be struggling offensively. Saraf had nothing to lose the entire time he was on the court, but he did a great job handling the basketball and playing solid defense on the other end.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets lose 103-107 to Nuggets, Michael Porter Jr. scores 38 points
