The Brooklyn Nets hope a productive bench will provide energy to a team on a back-to-back when they visit the Golden State Warriors on Monday night in San Francisco.
Noah Clowney hit five 3-pointers among 18 points and Shake Milton chipped in 10 as the Nets, getting 44 points from their reserves, opened a four-day, three-game Western swing with a 108-103 win at Sacramento on Sunday.
Jalen Wilson added seven points, including a key late free throw, and Keon Johnson had six among the Brooklyn reserves, who spelled their starters for a total of 101 minutes on the front half of the back-to-back.
Brooklyn won the battle of the backups 44-9.
Trusting the second-stringers is one reason the Nets have been able to adjust quickly to new coach Jordi Fernandez’s up-tempo style, starter Cameron Johnson pointed out.
“We’re gonna pick up and guard; we’re gonna ball-pressure. We’re gonna shoot threes and we’re gonna run,” Johnson said. “We’ve done a good job of that so far. Not perfect. Room for improvement. But I’m excited about the direction this team is headed.”
The Nets, who recorded just 32 victories a year ago, have won two of their past three, including Sunday’s hard-earned triumph in Sacramento after blowing an early 19-point lead.
They will be seeing the Warriors for the first time this season. Golden State has won five in a row at home, including victories over the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies that propelled them to first place in the West: Group C of the NBA Cup.
The Warriors have assured themselves of a spot in the tournament’s Western semifinals.
Golden State clinched that spot with a 112-108 win at New Orleans on Friday. The Warriors didn’t respond well to a back-to-back of their own Saturday, falling 104-94 at San Antonio.
Afterward, Warriors coach Steve Kerr insisted a fourth loss in 16 games wasn’t about to carry over to a three-day, two-game homestand. Golden State hosts Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
“Keep on keeping on. You move forward,” he said. “It’s been a great start to the season. Disappointing loss. You learn from it.”
The Warriors have lost two of their past four, a stretch in which Stephen Curry has seen his point production drop from 26 to 23 to 19 to 14.
Meanwhile, Andrew Wiggins has picked up his pace, scoring 20 or more in all four games, hitting 34 of his 59 shots (57.6 percent).
Winning Monday’s opener of the season series could carry a little more weight than usual if the clubs continue a recent trend.
Each of the teams’ two-game series since the 2015-16 season have ended in a sweep, with Brooklyn taking a pair in 2022-23 and Golden State getting even last season.
Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas and Curry put on quite a show in the most recent meeting in San Francisco last December, with Thomas going for 41 points and Curry 37.
Golden State got the better of the bench play that night. The Warriors’ reserves outscored their Brooklyn counterparts 30-13.
