Happy New Year to you all. We hope and pray that everyone can achieve all their dreams and goals in 2026.
On the first day of the new year, the Nets will face the red-hot Houston Rockets led of course by ex-Net Kevin Durant, who will make his return to the Barclays Center. I can only imagine the chants this man will receive tonight. Brooklyn will look to get back into the winning column while the Rockets will look to win their fourth straight game.
In the final game of the year, the Nets lost to the Golden State Warriors in a packed house in Brooklyn. The loss was a disappointment, sure, but Brooklyn finished December with a 7-4 record and until that final game, the best defensive rating in the NBA.
Catch the action tonight at 6 p.m. ET on the YES Network for the home crowd and NBA League Pass for out-of-towners. The game is fully streamed on the Gotham Sports app.
After setting a new Nets rookie record with seven made threes last Monday, Egor Demin was ruled out with lower back pain, as was Terance Mann with hip soreness. Michael Porter Jr. (illness) is listed as questionable. Oh boy. Lots of opportunities, it seems, for Nolan Traoré and Drake Powell. EJ Liddell, Tyson Etienne, Chaney Johnson and Ben Saraf will report for duty on Long Island and fly to Cleveland for a game against the Charge on Friday.
Tari Eason (illness), Clint Capela (illness), Steven Adams (ankle) and Alperen Sengun (calf) are all listed as questionable. We’ll talk about it later, no doubt.
The Nets missing Demin will likely hurt them, especially as he gets more and more comfortable there. The absence of the 6’9.5″ point guard. On the other hand, this could lead to Cam Thomas starting, which is tricky when you look at his last two games played. First game back, 30 points in 20 minutes. Second game, 13 points on 5 out of 12 shots while the Warriors bet on him… and it worked. A forgotten performance.
Cam will need to make sure he’s on his A game, because the Rockets backcourt is scary, Amen Thompson is a freak of nature, as everyone knows. Averaging 17.7 points on 51% shooting, the Thompson Twin gets to the paint at will while also having the ability to guard positions 1-5.
The Rockets have their own shooter in Reed Sheppard, who has been rewarded with respect and minutes as his numbers have taken a jump from last season. The 6’2″ sharpshooter went from 4.4 points per game to 13.4 while improving his shooting percentages from 35.1% overall and 33.8% from beyond the arc to 45% and 42.2%.
And then of course you have KD. I have no doubt Durant can give Father Time a run for his money because somehow at his age and with the lowest usage rate of his career he’s still averaging 25.5 and leading this team to fourth place in the Western Conference is crazy.
The name of the game tonight will be big man availability. Even if Sengun doesn’t play, having Steven Adams and Clint Capela can clog the lane and also affect the Nets’ rebounding. Maybe everyone will be tired of New Year’s Eve parties in New York.
Player to watch: Kevin Durant
There are a number of players we could have picked as a player to watch. Sengun, Thompson, Jabari Smith. After all, the Rockets are on a roll, having won three straight against the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. They are also rested, having had three days off.
But if you’re a Nets fan, it has to be KD. Durant last played for Brooklyn in February 2023, almost three years ago, but his mark is still visible even if it is fading. Moving its exchange to Phoenix has produced, thanks to a recent move, a boatload of future assets in the meantime.
His legacy at the Barclays Center and HSS Training Center won’t be easy to forget either. It is no exaggeration to say that his arrival, his habits, his play and of course, his departure changed the franchise in many ways. So as long as he comes to Brooklyn, he will be the player to watch when the team he suits up for comes to town.
And it looks like he’ll be coming to town for a while if his recent play is any indication. He has only missed two games this season averaging 25.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He’s also close to his 50/40/90 season at age 37, with a current shooting of 52/44/89. Player to watch indeed.
Since the Rockets are going to Brooklyn, it reminds me of a billionaire couple from Brooklyn (him) and Houston (her). You may remember that they used to sit at the edge of the pitch back in the day.
