The Brooklyn Nets became the first NBA team this season to notch a series-sweep over an opponent when they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies on November 4. Two weeks into the season, and Jordi Fernández’s team had notched two wins over the eastern-most Western Conference team, and would not see them again for another year.

That is, until Group Play in the Emirates NBA Cup was decided, and one of the two games Brooklyn gained on their schedule after was against the Grizzlies on Friday night. Tough luck.

Since Brooklyn’s second victory over Memphis, the Grizzlies have found their stride. An injury to rookie center Zach Edey did not impact them as much as returns and continued health of their three best players: Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. Led by those three and coach Taylor Jenkins, Memphis has adopted a style unlike any other in season in franchise history.

They have been the best transition offense in the league, and most teams don’t have the talent to keep up with a healthy Memphis squad in a 48-munute track-meet. Nets included. As feisty as they’ve been this season — and as much as a fast-paced game may help they anemic transition offense — Brooklyn would need to bring the physicality and get some stops.

They did not.

They kept pace with Memphis by shooting 7-of-15 from three in the first quarter, but Memphis was already up to ten transition points by then, getting off to a start that propelled them for the rest off the night. Brooklyn’s offense flat-lined in the second quarter, and the Grizz took a 13-point lead into the locker room.

Still, it was a fantastically entertaining game through 24 minutes. Even Ben Simmons and the bench got in on the fun, as their unit outplayed the starters early, keeping the visitors within striking distance…

Alas, the fast pace of the game favored the Grizz. Not only did their talent shine in a shootout, but the Nets continued to struggle in transition. They entered Friday as the least effective team when pushing pace, per Cleaning the Glass, and didn’t do much to change it in Memphis…

Dorian Finney-Smith led Brooklyn in first-half scoring, and would finish with a season-high 19 points on five 3-pointers, staying hot, and though Brooklyn’s scoring was well-balanced, it was no match for Memphis’ stars, plus Santi Aldama.

Though Ja Morant dominated en route to an 18/5/6 half, his most notable play came after the second quarter buzzer, when he went face-to-face with Jordi Fernández after capping off the half with a bucket…

But these Nets do not get punked, no matter the talent disparity. They opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run, cutting the deficit to 74-72 midway through the period.

Alas, that was the height of their attempted comeback. Memphis’ three stars and Santi Aldama all scored 20+ points, and Aldama in particular was hitting some ridiculous shots in the second half. Brooklyn occasionally showed some fight in their defense…

BKN’s half-court D been pretty good IMO, in the second half. If they can keep Memphis out of transition and create some easy baskets of their own… pic.twitter.com/VHiK8nSs8m

— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) December 14, 2024

…but too often, their perimeter was porous. Morant & Co. easily broke the first line and got the Nets in rotation, and on the rare occasions they didn’t, the Grizzlies got out on the fast-break.

Said Finney-Smith: “We were having live ball turnovers, and they was converting. They’re a fast team, and they were scoring off of makes. And coach, you know, he told us what they was going to do, but as a team, we got to do a better job of executing the game plan. So they like to play fast, they’ve been getting in the paint, and they did exactly that.”

Indeed, Memphis scored a whopping 70 points in the paint. Transition, half-court, whatever. Aside from a five-minute stretch of pride in the third quarter, Brooklyn was overwhelmed in Memphis.

Nic Claxton tried to off-set the disparity, but couldn’t repeat his great game against Milwaukee. He scored eight points on 4-of-11 shooting; Jaren Jackson Jr. stripped him on his first two drives of the game, and that set the tone for the evening.

Between Claxton’s ineffectiveness, soft defense all-around, and a hot Grizzlies team that shot 47% from deep, the Nets didn’t have the room for error to have 18 turnovers. But they did, and Memphis was able to run away and hide in the fourth quarter, despite the Nets having kept it in shouting distance for the first three.

The fourth quarter, though, was notable for even more extracurriculars. Once again, Morant taunted the Nets bench, but Brooklyn was out of time to respond with their play, so they responded with words. Dennis Schröder walked up to Head Coach Taylor Jenkins to return the favor, and it quickly became a technical-fest…

Dennis Schroder and Jordi Fernandez were involved in an altercation with Ja Morant and Taylor Jenkins.Morant had something to say to Fernandez (again) and Schroder took expectation. Jenkins then chimed in.

Schroder, Morant, and Jenkins hit with techs. pic.twitter.com/dFBeHkC9Fn

— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) December 14, 2024

But DFS said it best after the game: “If we don’t want him barking, we gotta go out there and fight. You know, we can’t just fight with our words. Like coach say, we gotta go out there and hit em.”

Ultimately, the Nets did not, and that’s why they don’t get to revel in putting Morant and the Grizzlies in their place on Friday night.

Though Fernández did say that Morant’s actions were “disrespectful” and “not part of the game,” Brooklyn’s head coach largely kept the focus on his own team.

“We just did not deserve a better outcome. Going back to playing defense, you give up 135 points, you don’t deserve to win, that’s for sure.

Final Score: Memphis Grizzlies 135, Brooklyn Nets 119

Injury Report

Trendon Watford did not play in Friday’s contest, and though it did not initially appear to be injury-related, Fernández stated postgame that Watford was not “loose” enough to play, and that he “didn’t want to chance it.”

However, the head coach then said it was partly a rotational decision, as Noah Clowney was a healthy scratch last game, but took Watford’s spot in the rotation today. With all of Brooklyn’s bigs now healthy, it appears Jordi Fernández will have to make some tough choices each game, though we will look to see if Watford’s game surfaces on the next injury report.

One Net who is injured, though? “Jacky” Cui Yongxi, the two-way guard from China who tore his ACL in Long Island’s most recent game, as our Scott Mitchell covered. Prior to Brooklyn’s contest against Memphis, Fernández had some words for his injured rookie…

“He’s a guy that just brings positive energy every day. Smile on his face, he just brings happiness. Ready to work, and every group needs that positive energy and work ethic.”

In a press release, the Brooklyn Nets stated that they expect Cui to make a full recovery for next season.

Milestone Watch

• Dorian Finney-Smith has notched a season-high 19 points tonight. All 19 of his points have been scored from 3-point range (5-of-8) and the free-throw line (4-of-5).

Sitting down with Cam Johnson

Earlier on Friday afternoon, the Brooklyn Nets posted my preseason sit-down with Cam Johnson on their social media channels. We broke down his 2023-24 film for six minutes, focusing on the finer points of being a great NBA 3-point shooter, from mentality to footwork to court awareness.

Next Up

The other game the Brooklyn Nets added to their schedule in the wake of NBA Cup play ain’t much easier. They’ll come home to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.