NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets (25-53) came into Sunday as one of the few teams in the NBA were more than one day of rest between games, something that could have given them a better chance of starting a new winning streak. With the Toronto Raptors (29-50) coming to town, Brooklyn had more implications coming from this game than just the win-loss record.
The Nets lost to the Raptors 120-109 thanks to being down by as many as 23 points to a Toronto team missing most of their starting lineup outside of RJ Barrett. Reece Beekman led the way for Brooklyn with 14 points, four rebounds, five assists, and three steals while Drew Timme continued his solid play to the tune of 13 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
The Raptors did not have anyone explode for them, but they did have eight different players score at least 10 points for them, led by Jonathan Mogbo stuffing the stat sheet with his 17 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks for a rebuilding Toronto team. Here are three Nets takeaways from Sunday's loss to the Raptors:
Reece Beekman
Due to D'Angelo Russell dealing with his tender right ankle along with head coach Jordi Fernandez trying to evaluate players towards the end of the roster, Beekman drew the first start of his NBA career Sunday against the Raptors. Beekman, who came to Brooklyn in a midseason trade from the Golden State Warriors, has mostly been relegated to an end of the bench/G League role with the Nets given the amount of depth on the team.
However, with Fernandez sitting Tyrese Martin against Toronto, someone had to step up to be the starting point guard and Beekman was the guy. While Beekman's three-point shooting left a lot to be desired, he did pretty much everything else that was asked of him as he put up 14 points, four rebounds, five assists, and three steals in 36 minutes, showing that he can produce when given the playing time.
Following the loss, Beekman gave his take on what his first NBA start meant to him:
"It's a ...
