In the beginning of Jordi Fernandez’s coaching tenure, the Brooklyn Nets are showing pluckiness even if it does not always result in wins.
The trait appeared in both of Brooklyn’s wins this week and the Nets attempt to produce their third victory of the season Friday night when they host the Chicago Bulls, who are coming off a pair of impressive comebacks.
The Nets began Fernandez’s career by getting outscored by a combined 19 in last week’s road losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic, when they could not overcome committing fouls and turnovers. Since those early losses, the Nets sandwiched 13-point wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies around a five-point overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets, when they blew a 17-point lead.
Dennis Schroder, one of several veterans on the roster, has had a hand in the last two wins. He scored all 29 points following the first quarter to help beat Milwaukee on Sunday and followed up his 28-point showing against Denver by leading the Nets with 33 in Wednesday’s 119-106 win at Memphis.
“At one point, he said, ‘Just give me the ball and I’ll take care of this,'” Fernandez said of Schroder, whom the Nets obtained at last season’s trade deadline from the Toronto Raptors. “And that’s what he does. He’s a leader. He puts everybody in place. If he has to score, he scores.”
Schroder is not the only Net off to a productive start offensively. Cam Thomas added 19 after scoring at least 24 in his first four games and is averaging 27.4 points so far.
The Bulls are attempting to win a third straight game and get their third road win after posting consecutive three-point wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and Magic that featured comebacks from 20-point deficits. The Bulls followed up Monday’s 126-123 win by rallying from 20 points down for a 102-99 win over the Magic.
After trailing by 10 at halftime, the Bulls outscored the Magic 50-37. Chicago earned the win despite shooting 38.5 percent after halftime and 42.9 percent overall; the Bulls were able to prevail by allowing 31 percent in the second half and 40.7 percent for the game.
“We know who we are,” Bulls forward Patrick Williams said. “We’ve got a bunch of competitors in this locker room, a lot of guys that don’t want to lose and love to win. I think that shows through the way that we play. We’ve got to get back to the drawing board on why we’re getting in these deficits in the first place. Against the best teams, you can’t come back from 20 down.”
Even with the stout defense against the Southeast Division favorites, the Bulls dealt with an injury concern for Zach LaVine. LaVine was limited to 11 points and played 36 minutes, but X-rays showed a sprained shoulder that could keep him out for Friday. He is listed as questionable.
Lonzo Ball will miss his second straight game with a sprained wrist he sustained Monday and will get re-evaluated next week.
With LaVine possibly out, the Bulls hope to see Coby White continue his productive start. White led the Bulls with 21 points against Orlando, has scored 76 in the three wins and is averaging 19 points so far.
Brooklyn swept last season’s three-game season series. The Nets hit 18 3s in the second half of their 125-108 win in Brooklyn on March 29 and shot 47.9 percent (68-of-142) from 3 against the Bulls last season.
