The Brooklyn Nets looked like a competitive basketball team for three quarters on Monday vs. the New York Knicks. They went back to looking like an inexperienced and disjointed group in the game's closing period.
After leading by four after three periods, the Nets were outscored 28-11 in the fourth. They shot 3-of-16 from the field and 2-of-10 from three with three assists and two turnovers in the final frame. While Brooklyn's fourth-quarter collapse dropped the team to 1-6, Jordi Fernandez took more positives than negatives from his group's latest performance.
“We played great for 39 minutes. And then the last nine, we're not good enough. I'm asking these guys to play as hard as they can, and the last two games they've done it,” Fernandez said. “There's a lot to learn [in terms of] being organized and dealing with the lead, and obviously that's my responsibility to help them to be better there. But there's [too much] positive in this game to just throw everything out the window and not think that we did good things. It hurts because you wanted to win the game, and we're all competitive. But as we all know, if we keep playing as hard as we played in the last two games, there's gonna be a lot of good things and a lot of growth.
Remember that it's not just a new group, but also a young group, and right now we want to see the steps. I think if you put too much negative energy into the group and the young kids, it affects their growth. So I'm proud of the group. The things that we didn't do as well on the fourth, I'm gonna take responsibility and help them. It's more positive than negative.”
Jordi Fernandez said he took more positives than negatives from the Nets' loss to the Knicks:
“We played great for 39 minutes. And then the last nine, we weren't good enough. I'm asking these guys to play as hard as they can, and the last two games they've done it. There's a lot… pic.twitter.com/HiZa0X5AeW
— Erik Slater (@ErikSlater_) November 3, 2026
Brooklyn put forth its best defensive effort of the season on Monday, given their level of competition. The Nets held the Knicks' starting lineup to 18-of-50 (36.0 percent) shooting. They held New York to 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) shooting on twos overall and won the second-chance points battle 18-11.
The performance came after Brooklyn held the shorthanded Indiana Pacers to 90 points on 28-of-70 (40.0 percent) while winning the second-chance points battle 14-5 on Sunday.
Nets' improved defense not enough to overcome Knicks during first matchup of season
The Nets allowed opponents to score 121.2 points per game with the NBA's fourth- highest effective field goal percentage (56.3) during their 0-5 start. Has their improved defense the last two games been a product of improved effort or better understanding of Fernandez's defensive principles?
“It's a little bit of both,” the coach said. “When you buy into playing as hard as you can, there are always breakdowns, but it's about giving second and third efforts. It's easy to give one or two, but we always say we want three or more, and I think we've made winning plays. Like Nolan [Traore] had a block in transition. I think it was after a turnover, and he comes back and blocks a shot at the rim, which is impressive. So I think that we see more winning plays by effort, but also the schemes, the communication on pick-and-roll and drives, the low man in transition. So I'm happy with what I'm seeing right there.”
The Nets' offense, on the other hand, has held them back in their last three games. With Egor Demin sidelined by a leg injury, Brooklyn has averaged 94.0 points on 39.8 percent shooting with 20.3 assists and 19.3 assists per game during that span. That culminated in their worst quarter of the season to close the Knicks matchup.
Julius Randle continued to struggle during Monday's loss, shooting 5-of-16 from the field with two assists and four turnovers. Randle has shot 26-of-75 from the field (35%) and 7-of-28 (25%) from three with 22 assists and 21 turnovers over Brooklyn's last five games. Michael Porter added 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting vs. the Knicks but attempted just three shots in the fourth quarter.
Point guards Nolan Traore and Mikel Brown Jr. provided an offensive lift, combining for 30 points. However, the rest of Brooklyn's supporting cast — Day'Ron Sharpe, Moe Wagner, Chaney Johnson, Keon Ellis and Noah Clowney — combined for just 21 points on 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) shooting.
Article Continues BelowWhat does Fernandez think his team needs to do to improve offensively and avoid late-game meltdowns like Monday?
“It's more about us not being organized,” he said. “You have empty possessions where you don't run anything for anybody. Nobody's in the right spot, you don't touch the paint, you don't move, you don't reverse the ball, and you get either no shots or terrible shots. And I think that those nine minutes… we gotta find a way to find Michael [Porter Jr.], find Julius [Randle], let the point guards play. But in a good way, and I think we got it throughout the game. I think that we were good enough because we had the lead and the group had really good energy, and then we couldn't sustain it. Is the back-to-back an excuse? No, because you're gonna have to face more. So very good to play for seven quarters and we fail for one quarter. And if you see it this way, there's more good than bad.”
The Nets have the NBA's youngest point guard rotation, with sophomore Traore and rookie Brown assuming the team's ball-handling responsibilities. While the point guard typically orchestrates a team's offense, Randle said organizing the group in crunch time doesn't fall on Traore and Brown alone.
“I think it [falls on] all of us. You can't just put it on one person. It's a team game,” Randle said. “There's five players out there. So we got to be better at communicating, understanding the moment, [knowing] what's going on… We've just got to remain disciplined. Know what we need to do to get organized. If the corners aren't filled, get to the corners… Know what we need to do if it's five-out spacing. Just got to be disciplined in what we're doing and not go rogue… And as I said, it's on all five of us. We all got to be better out there.”
Following a difficult seven-game stretch to open the season, the Nets will face a softer stretch of schedule in the coming weeks. Just five of their next 12 opponents are playoff teams from last season. Brooklyn returns to action Wednesday at home against the Charlotte Hornets.