The long wait is over.
The Long Island Nets picked up their first home win of the season Wednesdasy, defeating the Westchester Knicks, 119-106, before a sold out crowd at Nassau Coliseum. With the win, Long Island improves to 3-10 on the season.
Jaylen Hands, the Nets late second round pick in the 2019 Draft, had a breakout performance dropping a career-high 28 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Hands shot 10-of-21 from the field and 3-of-9 from behind the arc in 37 minutes of play. Hands, who had a problem with turnovers at both UCLA in the Summer League, registered only two in Wednesday’s win.
.@JHANDS08 was on today
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 11, 2019
28 PTS | 6 REB | 5 AST@UCLAMBB ↗️ @LongIslandNets pic.twitter.com/2N5iEmKOca
Henry Ellenson, the Nets two-way who has been filling a stretch 5 role with Long Island, had a bounce back performance. Ellenson finished with his third double-double of the season with 24 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three assists and three blocks. The Nets two-way short 7-of-10 from the field in 36 minutes of play.
.@HenryEllenson13 had himself a day
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 11, 2019
24 PTS | 14 REB | 3 AST@MarquetteMBB ↗️ @LongIslandNets ↔️ @BrooklynNets pic.twitter.com/Q0EWiAW4CO
Devin Cannady, the 6’2” Princeton sharpshooter, had a solid outing for the Nets tallying 19 points, four rebounds, and one assist in 33 minutes of play. The former Princeton Tiger shot 7-of-11 from the field and 5-of-9 from three.
knockdown | @devin_cannady3 pic.twitter.com/VHfeqtw6c2
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 11, 2019
As a team, Long Island finished the game shooting 38-of-87 from the field (44 percent) and 15-of-39 from three (38 percent). Turnovers, which have been a problem for the Nets this season, the team recorded 12 turnovers in the win.
Westchester fell to 4-8 on the season with the loss to the Nets. Lamar Peters had a good game scoring 25 points, handing out nine assists and grabbing three rebounds, in 34 minutes of play. Knicks two-way Ivan Raab, the 6’10” center, also played well for the Knicks, finishing with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds in 31 minutes of play.
Shaun Fein and the coaching staff started Hands, Cannady, Ellenson, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Jonathan Kasibabu, the 6’8” Fairfield product from Congo.
Long Island opened the game on a tear, mounting a 20-9 lead over the first seven minutes of play. The Nets maintained their strong play throughout the opening quarter of play, going into the second with a 33-19 lead.
The Nets continued their strong play into the second, improving their lead to 50-26 over the first four minutes of the second quarter. The Knicks battled back to remain close and in the game but were outscored 37-33 in the second and entered the half down 70-52.
Long Island were able to add to their lead in the third. The Knicks got to within 12 points of the Nets with 7:38 left to play in the third but the Nets held them off and entered the final quarter up 19.
The Nets got a scare early on in the fourth, as the Knicks opened the quarter with a 9-2 run over the first 2:58 of play. It was reminiscent of other late collapses and indeed, the Knicks were able to get within six points of the Nets but that was it. Despite their late effort, Westchester would never get closer as Long Island closed out the game with a 119-106 win.
The game drew 6,248 fans, most of them school children on Education Day.
The Nets play their next game, away, against the Lakeland Magic on Sunday, December 15, at 3 p.m.