Egor Dëmin, a rising star with the Nets, returned to Utah for a triumphant homecoming, securing a win against the Jazz.
The promising rookie, who made his mark playing college basketball at BYU, delivered a standout performance. He led the Nets to a 109-99 victory over the Jazz at a packed Delta Center, ending the team’s troubling seven-game losing streak, the worst in the league.
This win marked the Nets’ first success of the season without their top scorer, Michael Porter Jr., following an 0-8 record in his absence. Dëmin stepped up impressively, achieving his inaugural double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds, both personal bests, and contributing four assists. His shooting was remarkable, hitting six out of 12 three-pointers, making him the first Nets rookie to achieve six threes in multiple games. He also set an NBA rookie record with a three-pointer in 34 consecutive games.
In a strategic move, Dëmin was joined in the starting lineup by fellow rookies Nolan Traore and Danny Wolf, a first for the Nets since December 18, 2021. Wolf contributed 14 points and five rebounds, while Traore added seven points and six assists.
Off the bench, Cam Thomas provided a boost with 21 points, and Day’Ron Sharpe dominated the smaller Utah lineup with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Cam Thomas scored 21 off the bench, while Day’Ron Sharpe added 16 points and nine rebounds against undersized Utah.
Lauri Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkic were out for the Jazz, who have dropped nine of 10. But the Nets won’t feel sorry in the least.
“It means a lot,” said Dëmin in an on-court TV interview. “It’s the first [time we won] the second game of a back-to-back. Winning the first game without Mike; he’s a big, big, big part of our team. But we’ve got to be able to function without him too. So that win means a lot, especially for me being back home I can say so. It’s pretty fun.
“It’s very special, especially having some of these people that mean so much for me and just feeling this BYU love from here. It just very special.”
Trailing 30-26, the Nets mounted an extended 22-6 run that spanned the first and second quarters. Thomas scored 12 straight Nets points, and Nic Claxton’s bucket off a Jalen Wilson feed capped the run for a 46-36 lead.
Then it was Wolf who found Claxton to push it to 52-38 with 4:52 left in the half.
The Nets allowed a 16-2 run that spanned intermission. Jazz rookie Ace Bailey — a lottery pick out of Rutgers — knotted it at 54-all.
The second half was tooth-and-nail.
It was knotted at 83-all after another Bailey score to open the fourth, but the Nets reeled off an 8-0 run and never tailed again. Thomas found Wilson in the corner for a 3 and a 91-83 lead.
A couple of late Dëmin 3s padded the cushion to double digits at 100-90.
The Nets (13-34) now sit fifth in the lottery race, a game behind Washington and one ahead of Utah for sixth.
