Nets Hit 20 3-Pointers and Pour In 145 Points to Rout the Pelicans as Egor Dëmin Returns With 22

The Brooklyn Nets got a young guard back on Wednesday night, and the whole offense seemed to come back to life with him.

Egor Dëmin scored 22 points in his first game after missing six with a bone bruise in his leg, and the Nets ran the New Orleans Pelicans off their own floor, 145-111, The Associated Press reported ^[1][4]. Michael Porter Jr. matched Dëmin with 22 points, and eight Nets players finished in double figures ^[1].

Brooklyn shot 57% from the field and went 20-for-41 from 3-point range, with nine different players hitting at least one, according to the AP ^[1]. Dëmin and Porter each made four 3-pointers ^[1]. Julius Randle added 17 points, while Noah Clowney and Moritz Wagner scored 16 apiece ^[1].

A First Half for the Record Book

The Nets did most of the damage before the break. Brooklyn led 83-66 at halftime, its most points in a first half since it scored 91 against Golden State on Dec. 21, 2022, and the third-most in a first half in franchise history, the AP reported ^[1]. For context, the most points New Orleans has ever allowed in a half is 87, a mark the Lakers set in February 2024, the AP noted ^[1].

The second half was more of the same. A 17-1 run pushed Brooklyn's lead to 124-84 in the fourth quarter ^[1]. The AP noted that the Nets' franchise record for points in a regulation game is 150, so Brooklyn finished just five points shy of it ^[1].

Dëmin's Statement Night

For Dëmin, it was the kind of night a young player remembers. He made 5 of 8 shots, 4 of 6 from deep and 8 of 10 at the free-throw line in only 23 minutes, according to CBS Sports ^[2]. The 22 points tied his season high, CBS reported, and came after he had been held to single digits in three of his first four regular-season games ^[2]. The New York Post called it his best game of the young season ^[3].

That matters in Brooklyn. A team that is building around young players needs to see those players respond when they come back from a setback, and Dëmin did more than respond. He came off six games on the sideline and played like a man who had spent the time studying, not sulking. Coaches talk all the time about players who are ready when their number is called. On Wednesday, his number was called, and he answered.

The balance was just as encouraging. Eight players in double figures and nine players with a made 3-pointer is what unselfish basketball looks like on a stat sheet ^[1]. When the ball moves like that, the open man gets the shot, and on this night the open man kept making it.

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Hard Times in New Orleans

Zion Williamson did what he could for the Pelicans, leading them with 29 points, and Saddiq Bey added 15 ^[1]. New Orleans again played without Trey Murphy III, who missed his second straight game with knee soreness ^[1].

But the defense is the story in New Orleans right now, and it isn't a good one. Wednesday's loss was the Pelicans' fourth in a row, and they have now allowed at least 138 points in three straight games, the AP reported ^[1]. They have lost their last two by more than 30, including a 138-87 loss to Golden State on Sunday that the AP said was a franchise-record 51-point margin of defeat ^[1]. Those are numbers that get the attention of a front office, and they will get the attention of a locker room, too.

There was one moment for the home crowd to cheer. Jaron Pierre Jr., a second-round pick out of SMU and a New Orleans native, scored his first NBA basket, the AP reported ^[1]. On a rough night for the home team, a hometown kid getting his first bucket in front of his own city was a reminder of why these games still matter to the people in the seats.

What's Next

The Nets close a four-game road trip Saturday night in Memphis ^[1]. The Pelicans get a quick chance to turn things around when they host the Grizzlies on Friday night ^[1]. After the last three games, the first thing they will want to fix is at the defensive end.