3 Nets takeaways from 123-94 loss to Obi Toppin, Pacers
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets (20-60) had their last home game of the 2025-26 NBA season on Thursday in what was "Fan Appreciation" night for a fanbase that is starving for a winner. Brooklyn will have to wait to see what happens in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, but with the Indiana Pacers (19-61) visiting Barclays Center, the Nets weren't able to send the fans off in a positive manner.
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The Netslost to the Pacers 123-94 in a contest where Brooklyn trailed by as many as 32 points thanks to how much they struggled on both ends of the floor. Two-Way forward EJ Liddell led the way for the Nets with 26 points and 10 rebounds, both career-highs, while rookie guard Ben Saraf had 19 points, five rebounds, and six assists in the losing effort.
The beginning of this game was potentially an omen for how the rest of the game was going to go as Brooklyn finished the first quarter trailing the Pacers 31-14. While Liddell had six points and three rebounds in the quarter, Pacers forward Obi Toppin had 12 points and five rebounds in just over six minutes off the bench, showing how much the Nets were missing the size of players like Nic Claxton and Day'Ron Sharpe in the paint.
The Nets did a great job of limiting Indiana's impact from behind the three-point line as they forced the Pacers to shoot just 8-of-31 (25.8%) from three-point land. However, Brooklyn struggled mightily due to their lack of size as they allowed Indiana to score 80 points in the paint and score 36 fastbreak points as Indiana was able to get whatever they wanted throughout the game.
The Nets are winding down the season as they're trying to finish the campaign strong despite dealing with the amount of injuries that they're dealing with. Brooklyn has two games left to play this season, with Friday's game at the Milwaukee Bucks coming up first, and the Nets will hope that Liddell and Saraf can continue to play well down the stretch.
EJ Liddell Notches Another Career-High
Liddell previously notched his career-high in scoring with 21 points on Tuesday against the Bucks, but he surpassed that in Thursday's matchup against the Pacers with 26 points. Given how up-and-down the game was, Liddell had plenty of opportunities to rack up the points and he took advantage of the 37 minutes he played by shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 3-of-6 from behind the three-point line.
Ben Saraf Continues Solid Play
Saraf is one of the rookies that needs as many reps as possible if he is going to show what his potential will be and recently, he is making the most of his added responsibility. Moving forward, the Nets are most likely going to have Egor Demin and Nolan Traore in the rotation, but Saraf could be playing for his role next year, assuming that he continues to play well to end this season.
Nets Gain Ground In 2026 Lottery
Brooklyn went into this game with only 0.5 games separating them with the third-worst record and the Sacramento Kings, who had the fifth-worst record. After this loss to the Pacers, the Nets now have 1.0 games of separation, meaning that they have a better chance of getting 14.0% odds at the first overall pick than they did heading into the matchup.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: 3 Nets takeaways from 123-94 loss to Obi Toppin, Pacers