Egor Demin Reflects on Clutch Moments Down the Stretch in Nets' Loss to Magic

Wednesday night’s matchup against the Orlando Magic seemed destined to be forgettable for Egor Demin and the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center.

Demin was scoreless until 3:22 left in the fourth quarter, when he hit two free throws and tapped into one of his superpowers to help the Nets force overtime.

Scored all of BKN's 10 points in OT.
Scored 13 straight points between 4Q and OT.
Scored 18 points for the game.

Egor Dëmin was UNBELIEVABLE for Brooklyn tonight! pic.twitter.com/g2ao9RP23Q
— NBA (@NBA) January 8, 2026

The BYU product entered the league with a smooth jumper, but his shooting percentages at the collegiate level didn't inspire much confidence that it would translate at the NBA level.

Demin has silenced many of those doubts, using his smooth release to fire up the Barclays Center crowd and knock down five 3-pointers, finishing with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

One of those triples forced overtime, and another gave the Nets a 103-101 lead with 5.6 seconds left in the extra period before Paolo Banchero spoiled the party.

“I’ve always felt comfortable in these situations,” Demin said. “If I have a rough game, the end is easier for me to get this energy out. I’m like, if not me, who else?”

“That was one of those moments when in high school or when I was a kid, I was shooting alone in the gym and thinking about moments like this. Going through things like I’m hitting the game-winning shot, five 3s in a row or whatever; this was one of those moments I was manifesting when I was a kid. So it felt really good. But we didn’t get a win, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Demin's performance drew praise from Jordi Fernandez, though Brooklyn's head coach understands that things will not always be so easy for the rookie moving forward.

“Special players can do those things," Fernandez said. "And we're seeing him now as a 19-year-old rookie, he’s able to make those shots in the fourth quarter. It's gonna get harder because teams will know and probably put more pressure, but he's a smart player that he'll use that pressure against teams. There’s a lot we can work on with him because his ceiling is very, very high. The player that we believe he is. But there’s something we can't teach. And it's those moments. And he has it.”

Taking over games down the stretch is incredibly hard, but Demin is proving capable of handling clutch moments with such ease, which is an incredibly encouraging sign to see out of a rookie. The future is bright for the kid.