Nets Coach Jordi Fernandez Saw Positives Defensively in Nets' Loss to Rockets

The Brooklyn Nets were missing three starters, including Michael Porter Jr., to kick off 2026. As a result, the Nets fell to the Houston Rockets 120-96 in Kevin Durant's third return to the Barclays Center.

The Nets' game plan was apparent from the start. They were looking to apply double teams on Durant and force the ball out of his hands. However, KD tapped into one of his more underrated attributes: his passing skills. Durant finished the contest with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 11 assists, and five rebounds.

"We couldn't find our energy," Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. We saw some positives defensively. We scrambled, tried to get the ball out of their hands. They're pretty good, and even though we turned it over one less time, they scored 23 points off our turnovers. And that's pretty bad because you should be less points than turnovers you have. That means you're keeping it under one point per possession. That means your turnovers are not live ball that turn to layups or you making winning plays."

To many people's surprise, Danny Wolf and Drake Powell drew the start in favor of Cam Thomas. Fernandez thought the rookies did OK in their first career start, though he sees some room for improvement.

"I trust that they'll try to do the right things," Fernandez said. "Their intentions are always been great. I need them to be aggressive. I need them to be more decisive. It's just the little things. It's a little bit of the growing pains. I think they did an OK job. I know they can be much better, and that's why my standards for all of them are always gonna be high, because we believe they can be special. Even though they were OK, I'm gonna need more and I'm gonna need better. Same for everybody else in a game like today, but just as far as them for their first game, that's how I feel.

"Danny's playmaking efficiency was good. I think he passed a few 3s. And when he's playing sometimes off the ball, and not be a primary ball handler. We needed more opportunities. Thirty 3s for us, it's not good enough, so probably missed a few of them."

Fernandez also expressed that he wanted to see better defense and playmaking from Thomas and for Nolan Traore to shoot more catch-and-shoot 3-pointers rather than pullup 3s.