The Nets fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-91 Friday night at Target Center, bringing their 2024-25 road slate to a merciful end. They haven’t won in Minnesota since the 2022-23 season. They’ll wrap up the regular season Sunday afternoon when the Knicks visit Barclays Center.
A win Friday night would’ve been the Nets’ third straight on the road dating back to March 29-31. It would’ve matched their longest road winning streak of the season. But Brooklyn was down multiple starters, the Timberwolves were healthy, and it was outgunned by Chris Finch’s squad for the second time this month.
So, Minnesota takes the season series 2-0, and Jordi Fernandez’s inaugural season in Brooklyn ends with a 14-27 record away from Barclays Center. And with the Philadelphia 76ers’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks Friday night, the franchise is officially locked into the sixth-best lottery odds with one game left.
The Nets went 12-29 on the road last season under former head coach Jacque Vaughn and eventual interim head coach Kevin Ollie.
It wasn’t all bad at Target Center Friday night. Jalen Wilson hit the Nets’ 1,090th 3 of the season with 10:03 left in the first quarter, setting a new franchise record.
Dariq Whitehead went 2-for-4 and is now shooting 44.4% from deep this season, so that’s encouraging to see given all he’s been through. And Keon Johnson set a career high for free throws made and attempted in a game (8-for-8) and finished with six assists, logging his second game this season with more than five dimes.
The same could be said about Brooklyn’s road slate as a whole. Cam Thomas’ 43-point performance against the Knicks in November at Madison Square Garden was fun. As was the team’s four-game road trip that month, where it won three straight games against the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns when few thought it could.
Fernandez beat his mentor and former team in Sacramento. The Nets took down a perennial contender in Golden State. There was still plenty of hope at that point in the season.
Whitehead was called up from Long Island and poured in a season-high 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting from deep in Chicago on Dec. 2. Ziaire Williams punked his former team, and got the win, when Brooklyn visited Memphis on Oct. 30. The Nets went up to Boston on Nov. 8 and took the defending NBA champions to overtime. And a 132-114 triumph in Portland on Jan. 14 was arguably the Nets’ most impressive win of the season.
Brooklyn still had moments away from home, even in a lost season. The hope going forward is that these standout performances will translate to greater success in 2025-26 — especially on the road.
