Nets come up short in season-opening loss to Hornets, 110-103

The Nets couldn’t keep up with the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, falling 110-103 in their first game of the 2026-27 season.

It’s Brooklyn’s sixth straight season-opening loss.

Here are the takeaways…

— As expected, head coach Jordi Fernández went with Egor Dëmin, Keon Ellis, Michael Porter Jr., Julius Randle and Day’Ron Sharpe as his starting five on opening night against a Hornets squad without star Kon Knueppel and Coby White.

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The group got out to a hot start, making five of their first seven shots and building an early 11-5 lead. But then they went cold and couldn’t contain Brandon Miller, as the former No. 2 pick scored 10 straight during a 14-3 run. Miller finished with 12 in the first and helped Charlotte go up 27-23 at the end of the quarter.

— No. 6 overall pick Mikel Brown Jr. entered for the first time with 3:57 remaining in the first quarter. He scored his first bucket on a strong and-one layup, providing a much-needed spark for the offense and kept it going in the second quarter, sinking a three right out of the gate.

— Tensions were rising in the second quarter with the two sides going back-and-forth, culminating with Noah Clowney and Ryan Kalkbrenner pulling and shoving each other and both players receiving technical fouls for the tussle. The physical contest continued and the Nets defense began to pick it up, with Sharpe making a big block at the rim and Ellis getting a steal in the backcourt for an easy layup.

Although, Charlotte still outscored Brooklyn in the second quarter (27-25) and led, 54-48, at the half. Miller had a game-high 17 at the break, while Randle kept the Nets close with 15 points, four rebounds, and five assists.

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— Porter finally got going in the third quarter by making two straight three-pointers and Randle scored inside to cut down the Hornets’ lead. Porter kept it going and drilled another three-pointer, converting a four-point play, to put the Nets back up 64-62 with about eight minutes left in the quarter. But then it was Grayson Allen‘s turn to catch fire, hitting three three-pointers of his own as the Hornets retook the lead….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nets-come-short-season-opening-022555561.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-22 02:25:00

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