Brooklyn finally got its first win of the season, 98-90 at Indiana. Michael Porter Jr. scored 23 and Julius Randle added 20, and the Nets backed it up the next night by leading the Knicks 79-75 after a 35-point 3rd quarter at the Garden. Then they scored 11 points in the 4th and lost by 13. That was the second night of a back-to-back with a short backcourt, and it shows the problem with this roster. Porter and Randle can carry Brooklyn for a while, but the young guards behind them haven't been able to hold a lead.
Neither offense has been good. Charlotte has scored 79, 89 and 91 points in 3 of its 4 straight losses, and the 1 close game in the run was a 109-104 home loss to Philadelphia. Brooklyn's only results within 1 possession were a 1-point loss in Boston and the win in Indiana. Both teams are getting their shots. They just aren't making enough of them, and neither has the depth to fix that from the bench right now.
The Nets' injury list hits the backcourt. Egor Demin is out with a right leg bone bruise, and Tyler Bilodeau is out with a shoulder injury. Mikel Brown Jr. also missed the Indiana game, which puts more of the ball-handling on Jordi Fernández's rookies and second-year guards around Porter and Randle. Charlotte's list may get shorter by Wednesday. If Knueppel plays and White's minutes go up, the Hornets could look noticeably different from the team that has lost 4 in a row. Tipoff is 7:30 PM ET.
