Brooklyn Nets' Second Unit Provides Huge Spark in Win Over Memphis Grizzlies

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 126-115 on Monday, winning their second consecutive game.

Memphis was down to just eight players, the minimum required for an NBA team to be available for a single game.

Still. the short-handed Grizzlies appeared determined to storm into Barclays Center with a win early, falling behind by as many as 10 points five minutes into the game.

However, Drake Powell and Nolan Traoré brought the Nets back within four points at around the 5:30 mark with back-to-back 3-pointers before Nets coach Jordi Fernández brought in a completely different unit.

That unit found a rhythm defensively, blowing up Memphis's driving lanes, making the right switches, and closing out hard on shot attempts.

Day'Ron Sharpe picked up two fouls in his first 70 seconds on the court. A lot of times, a coach may decide to send a player right back to the bench after committing their second foul, but Fernández decided to stick with his burly center with Nic Claxton taking a breather.

"You have six of them, and he ended up only with three fouls for the game," Fernández said. "So sometimes you got to trust them. Obviously, if it's early in the game, he gets to his third. Sometimes, just risk it just to give him more rhythm. And I think I thought he did a good job defending and defending without fouling.

"But his activity, how engaged he was, how efficient he was in 17, almost 18 minutes. That was great. It's good to see him play that well. He deserves it. He's worked really hard to play this way."

Sharpe finished the contest with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, five rebounds, two assists, and one block, putting in a well-rounded performance.

"With me, it's just like knowing that the refs is gonna call stuff on me, me being bigger than guys," Sharpe said. "Sometimes I might not like it, but it's just on to the next play, and adjust from there."

Some of his loudest points rocked the building. One of his dunks came after a well-timed block from Jamahl Mashack. He took flight on his other dunk, posterizing Rayan Rupert with a nasty one-handed slam.

big night for the big fella 💪 https://t.co/Qk2DQ4ZkmG pic.twitter.com/HNECZvgpBI
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 10, 2026

Traoré was also a bright spot after an underwhelming performance, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and four assists to one turnover. Ochai Agbaji chipped in 18 points on a clean 8-of-9 shooting.