The Nets opened their preseason by cycling through every healthy player in a resounding 124-90 rout at Charlotte.
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Nets → open → Charlotte
Veteran forwards Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle leading the way wasn’t a surprise.
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leading → lead → way
The Nets, who were dead last in the league in offensive rating and 3-point percentage last season, shot 55.0 percent overall and 20-for-37 from deep Tuesday.
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who → shoot → percent
They carved up short-handed Charlotte up with 31 assists and forced 25 turnovers to pile up a 25-6 edge in fast-break points.
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They → carve → points
“Yeah, it was a good feeling obviously,” coach Jordi Fernández said.
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Fernández → say → ?
“First game preseason we accomplished playing pretty much everybody that was available.
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that → accomplish → everybody
Everybody won their minutes.
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Everybody → win → minutes
That’s important — to play hard for 48 minutes.
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That → ’ → minutes
“We struggled with turnovers in the first half.
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We → struggle → half
[We] ended up with three — I don’t count the last one for holding it — three turnovers in the second.
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I → end → second
So that’s pretty good, 31 assists on 44 made field goals, that’s great.
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that → ’ → goals
Defensively, the ball pressure turned them over 25 times for 31 points.
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pressure → turn → points
The only thing we struggled with was the 3-point line.
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we → struggle → ?
We have to be better at getting out there and finding shooters.”
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We → have → shooters
Porter had a team-high 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from deep, while Randle added 13 points and three assists.
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Randle → have → points
Porter and Randle largely played on different teams early in camp, so they’re still getting on the same page.
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they → play → page
“Yeah, just getting a feel for each other,” Fernández said.
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Fernández → get → other
“It’s important that they understand, Mike, they have to find him at the 3-point line.
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they → ’ → line
Julius, he can score in different ways, get into the paint and then kick it out.
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he → score → it
And it was cool, because I think Julius found Mike once, but then Mike found Julius once for a 3.
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Mike → think → 3
So it’s good.
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it → ’ → ?
“They’re trying to get those actions together.
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They → try → actions
We want to keep working on ramping those minutes up and have better feel with the different groups that we’ll have out there.
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we → want → that
But those two did an amazing job.”
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two → do → job
Day’Ron Sharpe added eight points and seven boards.
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Sharpe → add → points
But for a team starved for rim protection, his two blocks and plus-19 in 17:56 were auspicious signs.
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blocks → starve → 17:56
Drake Powell, who struggled at summer league, had nine points on 4-for-6 shooting, finished a game-high plus-20 and hit his only 3.
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who → struggle → 3
The Nets played everybody other than injured first-round picks Mikel Brown Jr. (ankle) and Joshua Jefferson (lower back), but Charlotte didn’t have that option.
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Charlotte → play → option
They were without Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and Coby White, but still hit 16-for-36 from deep.
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They → hit → deep
“When you win every quarter, it’s a good sign.
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it → win → quarter
We had different groups out there and they did whatever it took to get wins every quarter.
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it → have → wins
That mindset is important,” Fernández said.
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Fernández → say → ?
“It was a closer first half, but very happy with the intentions, very happy with the effort and the good things you see quarter by quarter.”
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you → see → quarter
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