Tuesday was a late-season example of the foundation that the Nets have been working toward building.
All five bench players scored in double figures.
Drew Timme notched 16 points and nine rebounds while Maxwell Lewis continued to find his game with 12 points after missing time with a left tibia fracture suffered on Jan. 1 after arriving from the Lakers.
Reece Beekman, who made his second-ever NBA start, dished out a career-high 10 assists.
Dariq Whitehead had the Nets sideline going crazy as he made four consecutive 3-pointers in the second quarter.
Tyson Etienne notably went airborne while chasing a loose ball, jumping over the courtside seats cleanly into the second row.
The Barclays Center crowd watched a lively young team work together toward a 119-114 win over the Pelicans, lending a positive sign for the offseason.
“I think the engagement from everybody is good. You don’t see anybody yawning …” coach Jordi Fernández said after the win. “You see Day’Ron [Sharpe] on his feet all the time. D-Lo [D’Angelo Russell] talking to the guys. Cam Johnson talking about a play and then Nic [Claxton], who played 17 minutes for 13 points, did a great job but its good for these other guys to close games. And Nic is on his feet and he is talking to them. Same with Trendon [Watford]. Same with everybody else.
“And I think that’s the definition of what we’re trying to build and doing it together and building those relationships and that chemistry.”
The Nets have been trying to find an identity for several seasons after the breakup of the Big 3 — Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving — who could not deliver the franchise their first NBA championship.
With the franchise in tank mode, the Nets have been able to evaluate their depth players as they get meaningful minutes in the final stretch of the season to see who might stick around to continue to build the franchise into something new.
“I think for obvious reasons we are getting to a really important summer and it’s going to be exciting,” Fernández said. “Me, at least, I’m very excited because it’s like continuity. That’s what we want. We don’t want to do something in one season and then start over. This is a good beginning. These guys are driving it. They’re doing it on their own and that’s who we want to be.”
