The Brooklyn Nets took on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA2K24 Summer League semi-finals on Sunday and lost in a hard-fought game 102-99.
For the Nets, Armoni Brooks had 22 points and three rebounds while Jalen Wilson had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Matt Lewis had 14 points off the bench and RaiQuan Gray had 12 points as a reserve.
For the Cavaliers, Isaiah Mobley had 23 points and seven rebounds as Emoni Bates had 20 points and seven rebounds. Sam Merrill had 19 points and Craig Porter Jr. had 12 points.
In the first half, the Cavaliers got out to a 10-point lead with 5:30 left in the first quarter thanks to the trio of Emoni Bates, Isaiah Mobley, and Sam Merrill combining for 14 points in their 16-6 lead over the Nets. However, Brooklyn was able to cut down their deficit because of David Duke Jr. going to the free-throw line. Over the course of the first half, neither team was able to gain much separation as they shot the ball similarly overall.
In the second half, Cleveland built another double-digit lead thanks to its defense holding Brooklyn to 25% shooting from the field in the third quarter. For the Nets, in an interesting turn of events, Noah Clowney played just 14 seconds in the third period. In the fourth quarter/overtime, both teams fought hard and make the game compelling until the end when Isaiah Mobley ended the game with his tough shot over Gray.
Here are your Nets player grades:
Chandler had a tough time shooting the ball from anywhere on the floor, essentially when he wasn’t driving to the rim. While his perimeter shooting seems to be a major weakness in his game, it’s concerning how reliant he is on driving to the basket if he’s going to be an effective player at the NBA level. Even his free-throw shooting has been suspect so far in the summer league. To his credit, Chandler did a good job of taking care of the ball and trying to mix it up in the paint with the bigger players when it came to rebounding.
Armoni Brooks: B-
Brooks shot the ball well in this one overall even though his three-point shot was not as automatic as it has been thus far into the summer league. Despite that, Brooks found a way to score by mixing in some dribble drives to the rim and he even got a nice dunk out of it. He was giving good effort when it was time to rebound the basketball and his defense was solid due to him moving his feet well.
David Duke Jr.: B
Duke Jr. did a good job of scoring the basketball in this semi-final matchup as he stuck with his bread-and-butter of driving to the rim and either finishing over the top of the defense or getting fouled and heading to the foul line. Surprisingly, Duke Jr. did not take nearly as many jump-shots in this one as he has been up to this point in the summer league which is an interesting development given that he wants to show more than his athleticism on offense. With that being said, Duke Jr. did a great job of getting on the glass and he had some nice moments setting up his teammates for easy scores.
Jalen Wilson: A
Wilson had one of his rough shooting games in this one as he couldn’t buy a bucket throughout most of the contest. Despite Wilson’s shooting struggles, the impressive thing about him was his determination to keep putting pressure on his defender and trying to make something happen. It seems that Wilson will struggled to score over NBA-level length until he figures out how to use a fadeaway jumper or use his body more on his drives to the basket.
Noah Clowney: D-
From the start, it looked like Clowney was not ready to play in this game. It was hard to see what was going on outside of him just having a rough game, but either way, it was rough to watch. Clowney was a step slow all game long and he had trouble defending without fouling to make his game seem even worse.
RaiQuan Gray: B+
Gray had a good overall game in this one as he was called into action after Noah Clowney was effectively benched for the second half. Gray was not particularly efficient shooting the ball from three-point land, but he was effective scoring inside the arc, especially using his size to finish at the rim. He was excellent on the glass and he displayed more of his unique passing ability as a big man.
Jordan Hall: B
Hall did a good job as essentially another guard off the bench for the Nets in this one. He was able to score at all three levels effectively and he did a good job rebounding. Hall has an interesting profile as a player due to his combination of size while being competent on the perimeter.
Matt Lewis: A
Lewis has been incredible shooting the ball throughout the summer league. It does not seem to matter what kind of shot he gets, he is able to make something happen due to his touch and his confidence shooting the basketball. To add some value outside of his shooting, Lewis got dirty as he made a great effort to rebound the basketball along with his teammates.
Story originally appeared on Nets Wire