SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nets coach Jordi Fernandez going again to Sacramento to play the Kings and Mike Brown wasn’t simply dealing with a mentor: It was dealing with household.
Brown didn’t take it straightforward on his protégé Sunday, and Fernandez wouldn’t have wished him to. He earned his victory over his former boss, a 108-103 come-from-behind win earlier than 16,750 at Golden1Center.
“I just want to kick his ass. And then give him a hug afterwards. And I’m sure he feels the same way, the same way about me,” Brown laughed earlier than the sport.
“That’s great. I take the hug, I don’t take the first part,” Fernandez mentioned. “We’ll try to do the same thing for sure.”
It was a troublesome one, and a nail-biter. However the Nets constructed a 19-point lead, trailed within the fourth quarter and used a 15-4 run to take the lead for good.
Cam Thomas had a game-high 34 factors and Brooklyn shot 19-for-39 from deep to enhance to 7-10. And Fernandez bought his win over his former boss.
Their ties run deep. Fernandez met Brown in 2009, when Fernandez was a younger growth coach from Spain, working at Impression Basketball in Las Vegas. Brown — then the Cavaliers coach — had his center faculty son, Elijah, figuring out below Fernandez throughout Summer season League, and the Spaniard impressed him.
It was the beginning of a mentorship, Fernandez serving a number of stints as Brown’s assistant — the final time from 2022-24 in Sacramento.
“Yeah, he’s a mentor, but he’s more than that. He’s like family to me. I would not be in this position without him. He’s the one that brought me here, and then years later we were back together,” Fernandez mentioned. “I’m in this position because of Coach Brown and the organization that put me in this position. So, really cool story.”
And Brown was satisfied this place — entrusted with the Nets’ rebuild — is the proper place for Fernandez to succeed.
All the things Fernandez confirmed Sunday simply underscored that.
“He’s just the right guy for the job,” Brown mentioned. “They’re obviously thinking about a rebuild, at least that’s what you hear from the outside. And so you need somebody with a plan, with energy. And then with the right focus in terms of relationships and stuff like that. Because going through that process, if that’s what they’re doing, it can be a lot of ups and downs.”
“So you need a guy that’s going to be steady, have good relationships with everybody and keep the spirits up and all that other stuff. He has them playing really, really, really hard. They’re doing some good things on both sides of the ball. I can only imagine the success that he’s going to have, especially given some time once they figure out which direction they may not want to go.”
After committing 19 turnovers Friday in Philadelphia, the Nets had only one in a clear first quarter that noticed them lead, 37-28.
Forward simply 29-25 after De’Aaron Fox (31 factors) hit a step-back jumper with 1:46 left within the first, the Nets mounted a 19-7 run that spanned the quarters.
Ben Simmons had a chase-down block, then pushed the tempo the opposite solution to discover Noah Clowney for a nook 3-pointer and 54-35 cushion with 7:19 within the half.
The Nets had their cushion minimize to eight on the break.
It was nonetheless 82-75 earlier than the Nets gave up a 13-3 run, happening by three with 23.4 seconds left within the third on a Keegan Murray free throw.
Murray triggered the Nets ache once more within the fourth. Clowney was pressured out of the sport with a left ankle harm after touchdown on Murray’s foot.
Clowney needed to be helped off with 18 factors on 5-for–8 from deep with 6:05 left.
Nevertheless it got here throughout the 15-4 run the place the Nets flipped the sport.
Trailing 94-90 with 9:14 to play, Brooklyn buckled down and executed, Shake Milton discovering Jalen Wilson for a 3-pointer and 105-98 edge.
“That’s the respect: You always want to beat your opponent, and I hope that that’s what he wants to do, the same thing we’ll do, obviously with a lot of respect,” Fernandez mentioned. “At some point, hopefully I can give him a big hug after the game. But we’re here to compete, to fight for 48 minutes, every single possession, no matter who’s in.”
It was a victorious hug from Fernandez.
