Jordi Fernandez’s gritty Nets just keep finding ways to win.
After receiving the news that they’ll be without rising star and leading scorer Cam Thomas for at least three weeks with a hamstring strain, Brooklyn knew they needed someone to step up offensively.
On Wednesday night, it was Tyrese Martin’s turn to answer the call.
The former UConn Huskies star put together one of the best performances of his NBA career to help the Nets pull out a third consecutive road win over old friend Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.
Martin simply could not miss, as he dropped a career and game-high 30 points on the night while shooting 10-of-13 from the field and an incredible 8-of-10 from behind the arc in 28 stellar minutes off the bench.
“Definitely felt surreal,” he said. “Especially to do it in this environment and situation we’re in with this team. A lot of teams probably take us lightly when we come into town or whatever the case may be but we’re here to compete and play hard. So to do it on this stage against Hall of Fame players in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, it’s definitely a pretty surreal feeling.”
Martin was originally a second-round pick of the Golden State Warriors, and he’s spent the majority of his time to this point playing in the G League, but he had his pact converted to a two-way deal after a strong preseason showing.
The youngster came into the night with just 33 points to his name in his NBA career, but when opportunity called he stepped up and took full advantage, leaving Phoenix with a new franchise record for two-way players.
“I just felt like they didn’t know who I was,” he said. “If you’re going to do that, then they probably aren’t going to pay much attention to you on the defensive end. But I bet you they know who I am now.”
That confident and next man up approach has been the Nets’ mentality through their first season under their first-year head coach.
While Brooklyn came into the season with expectations very low in the midst of their rebuild, they continue to fight night in and night out, and they are starting to show the makings of a scrappy young club.
“It ain’t like he’s telling us anything we don’t know,” Martin said. “He told us that the one time and it’s just been a thing. Keep it in our head, keep a fire lit. Every game he reminds us they had us for 19 wins. We’re here to compete every night and we’re going to get more than that.”
