Ty Wallace has emerged as a major contributor to the Long Island Nets since arriving in Long Island, but his 37 points Monday night weren’t enough to elevate the Nets over the first-seeded Motor City Cruise.
After coming up short against the G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night, the Nets weren’t able to avenge their loss, suffering a 116-105 defeat. After a season-best five game winning streak, Long Island has dropped two games in a row, good for an 8-8 record on the year.
Their .500 mark still has the Nets firmly in the playoff picture, a goal that has been re-iterated all year by members of Adam Caporn’s squad.
After controlling the game for much of the first half of play, the Cruise exited the halftime break determined to make up ground, and almost immediately erased any advantage the Nets had worked to build.
After Motor City pushed their lead to double-digits, the Nets got the deficit to as few as six after a four-point play from Bryce Brown, but were unable to make up any more ground.
Long Island was without the services of guard-forward David Duke Jr., who is back with the Brooklyn Nets after a successful G League stint in which he saw much improved success in his on-ball creation, shooting, and general scoring ability.
Treveon Graham also missed Monday’s match with back soreness, while Jordan Bowden made his return from an extended injury.
Craig Randall II rejoined the team after missing Saturday’s match due to rest, and scored 17 points, dished seven assists, and pulled down eight rebounds. Despite bad shooting numbers (7-of-22) from the field, Randall continues to positively contribute to the team as a point guard. It was only the third time in 15 games that Randall didn’t rack up 20+ points.
Ty Wallace, a 6’5” wing with 106 NBA games with the Clippers and Hawks, finished the night with 37 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Wallace, 27, was inserted into Long Island’s starting lineup for the first time on Saturday night — to replace Randall at point guard — but remained Monday after Randall’s return, this time in the power forward role.
You know what they say, Ty is money! @TyWallace661 https://t.co/Q3xxfswqTy pic.twitter.com/Mi4xGHXfjX
— Long Island Nets (@LongIslandNets) February 8, 2022
.@TyWallace661 is up to 29 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL heading into the fourth pic.twitter.com/bzbr7tVOZp
— Long Island Nets (@LongIslandNets) February 8, 2022
Brown had 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, but only 3-of-11 from deep. Thon Maker playing a season high 20 minutes finished with 12 rebounds and a block, but shot only 3-of-11, including an 0-fer from three, missing all three of his deep tries. Saben Lee and Luke Garza finished with 25 points each. Motor City is now 12-5.
Next, the Nets will continue their road trip and head to Chicago to play two games against the Windy City Bulls on Friday and Saturday. Each game will tip off at 8 p.m. (note the later start time) and air on NBAGLeague.com.
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