Before the start of the season, anyone who had to predict the record of these Nets after 19 regular season games would surely have opted for something similar to 5-14. There would be a few more optimists and probably an even more pessimistic majority. With a usage model made of waste and without a clear structure, and with Cooper Flagg as a reward for whoever manages to take possession of the choose No. 1 in the draft, there was little reason to think the New Yorkers would be remotely competitive. And yet…
…as of November 28th we are talking about a team that has a winning percentage close to 50% and is currently eighth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 9-10. And not exactly beating the Wizards nine times. Jordi Fernández’s men attacked the slopes in just three days Kings, Warriors and, this morning, the Phoenix Suns, who defeated the Arizona team 117-127 immediately after. They will mark the territory with a beat of the Lakers, confirming one of the surprises of an already strange morning.
The manner in which the victory was achieved is no less surprising, given that the Nets were led in scoring by Tyrese Martin, who, after having scored 33 points in 21 games played so far in the NBA (16 in Atlanta and 5 in Brooklyn) rose to 30 at Footprint Center. The guard kicked down the entrance door to the championship with three points, scoring a huge 8/10 which confirmed him as the revelation of the day and which sent his team flying. Together with Dennis Schröder and his 29 points, it became a nightmare for the Suns, who promised themselves very happy and ended up falling to a player they perhaps didn’t even know before kickoff.
Thus a surprise was created which little by little took shape and which ended with the guests proving to be clearly dominant throughout the second half, in which they won by up to 18 points. Not even Devin Booker and Kevin Durant’s 31 and 30 points respectively could stop this trend, making this the second loss of the season for the Suns in games where they have all of their Big 3.
Problems for Beal
The Big 3, however, started the game but didn’t finish it. Bradley Beal had to go to the locker room during the final quarter because he had fallen a few minutes earlier and, although he tried to continue, the discomfort ended up forcing him to stop. The guard was therefore unable to finish his second game after returning from injury, further extending the drama of the physical problems he has experienced since his arrival in Phoenix.
(Cover photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
