Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot was, surprisingly, the Brooklyn Nets’ leading scorer in their 128-118 loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday. With Caris LeVert, Joe Harris and Jarrett Allen all healthy, it’s even more shocking that Luwawu-Cabarrot was the lone Nets player to score 20-plus points (24).
Though, Luwawu-Cabarrot scored quite a few of his points late in the game, when Orlando had the win well in hand.
LeVert, as expected, was Brooklyn’s focal point on the offensive end, scoring 17 to go with seven assists. But Orlando knew that’d be the case — and all other opposing teams in the Disney bubble will, as well.
This is where the Nets are in trouble. Jarrett Allen told reporters on a Zoom call after the loss that when Orlando started blitzing LeVert, “that changed up how we were running our offense, so that threw everyone off,” per Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
But the issues weren’t limited to the offensive end.
Brooklyn couldn’t get things going on defense at all. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter — again, when the game was essentially over — when Nets started getting stops. That’s unacceptable in LeVert’s eyes:
I don’t think we made adjustments quick enough. We didn’t get enough stops. They scored way too many points. … We scored our fair share, but we have to stop people if we’re even going to have a chance out here.
The Nets play the Washington Wizards next. Tip-off is Sunday at 2 p.m.