MPJ, Sharpe among Nets out vs. Philadelphia

Brown, who missed time with a sprained ankle, hasn’t reached the point where the Nets feel comfortable with him playing back-to-backs. He’ll sit on Sunday and should be available for Monday’s game against the Knicks.

It was a typical Michael Porter Jr game where he got you points, rebounds, and not much else. He has gotten you some good steal numbers to start the year, but it’s not likely that it’s going to stick. The Nets struggled to score in this game, especially in the third quarter. You would want more than 9 shot attempts but it was just a bad game for the Brooklyn.

Active after sitting out Sunday’s loss to the Pacers for injury management reasons, Brown played 28 minutes in Tuesday’s overtime defeat. With Egor Dëmin (leg) leaving in the second quarter and Nolan Traoré (cramps) in the fourth, Brown gained valuable crunch-time experience. His three-pointer with two-tenths of a second remaining forced overtime, but Brown also missed a couple of close-range shots in the extra period that proved costly. Overall, this was an encouraging night for the rookie, even with the outcome and the low field-goal percentage.

Porter shot 6-of-12 from three on Tuesday, bouncing back from a 0-of-5 effort in Sunday’s loss to the Pacers. He’s made at least four three-pointers in three of Brooklyn’s first four games, and that output is one reason MPJ has been close to a top-25 player through the season’s first week. Another challenging matchup looms, however, as the Nets host the Pistons on Friday.

Brown sat out against the Pacers on Sunday, which was the second night of a back-to-back. They’ll continue to be cautious with his ankle injury, which means he will likely remain on a minutes restriction against Boston. They have another back-to-back this weekend, so expect Brown to sit one of those games.

Sunday was a bad day for the Nets, who fell to 0-3 with a blowout loss to the Pacers. Sharpe shot the ball well from the field, but the overall production was underwhelming for a starting center. The promotion certainly raises his fantasy ceiling, but it may take time for Sharpe to deliver the top-100 return some managers hope for. The Nets play three games in Week 2, starting with the Celtics on Tuesday.

Even if the Nets are going to struggle again this season, Porter is certainly going to get his buckets. He’ll have a good chance to lead the Nets in scoring, even if Julius Randle is a threat to that title. He was a fantasy stud last season, but through two games, he has been even better by becoming a strong source of steals with seven so far this year. That pace won’t continue, but he may be able to hover around one per game like he did last season.

Brown hasn’t seen the volume of minutes that other rookies have because he is still recovering from an ankle injury, but he was able to showcase some flashes of why the Nets took him with the No. 7 overall pick. Head coach Jordi Fernandez said before the game that Brown will sit out the second leg of this back-to-back against the Pacers on Sunday. His next chance to suit up will be in Boston on Tuesday.

Porter averaged 1.1 steals last year, which was his career-high. He was active on defense Wednesday, recording three steals in the process. Porter poured in points on the offensive end as well, finishing with 26 points and five three-pointers. In his first game playing with Julius Randle, Porter showed that he can coexist with another high-level teammate. The two combined for 59 points in the first game of what should be a productive partnership.

While this is a classic MPJ stat line, Porter will continue to be one of the main focal points of the offense in Brooklyn. Julius Randle hasn’t supplanted Porter in the offensive hierarchy. If Porter continues to be healthy, he should be a very good contributor going forward.