NBA Summer League: Brooklyn Nets vs. Hawks Preview

The Brooklyn Nets on Monday will take on the Atlanta Hawks in the Las Vegas Summer League. Brooklyn’s young squad will look to build on Saturday’s victory.

The Brooklyn Nets are coming off of a grind-it-out win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Saturday’s Summer League opener for Brooklyn. With the Nets sitting at 1-0, head coach Kenny Atkinson and the Summer League Nets will now turn their attention to the Atlanta Hawks.

Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hakws

When: Monday, July 11, 4:30 PM ET

Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the Nets win over the Cavaliers, much of the early part of the game was marred by sloppy play and turnovers. The Nets as a team turned the ball over 26 times. This can be atypical of the players themselves, and rather a result of players trying to do too much to impress coaches and scouts. Look for Brooklyn to try to cut down on the turnovers against an Atlanta team that gave up 78 points in their Summer League opener to the Houston Rockets, in an 83-78 victory.

For Brooklyn, the two players that stood out the most were Sean Kilpatrick and Isaiah Whitehead, who scored 19 points and 10 points, respectively. Look for much of the same in Game 2 against Atlanta. Kilpatrick seems poised to capitalize on his minutes and prove he’ll be a contributor when the regular season starts, and the Nets and their fan base have been excited about Whitehead since he was selected in the draft.

In the Cleveland game, Brooklyn’s defense wasn’t bad, as the Cavs turned the ball over 23 times. Brooklyn held Cleveland to just 73 points, 27 of which came in an excellent performance from Jordan McRae.

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Against Atlanta, Brooklyn will have to deal with Kevin Pangos and Deande Bembry, who scored 16 points and 14 points respectively in Atlanta’s victory over Houston.

Game 2 is another chance for young players such as Yogi Ferrell and Josh Maggette to showcase their talent and gain experience. It’ll also be interesting to see how Rondae Hollis-Jefferson performs. Hollis-Jefferson rolled his ankle early against Cleveland, but was able to stay in the game, and played 24 minutes. He scored just 3 points, but had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 7 steals. Look for him to continue impacting games on the defensive end, and perhaps try to score more against Atlanta.

Monday’s game against the Hawks will be head coach Kenny Atkinson’s second Summer League game as head coach. He’s looking to establish a culture with the young players who will make the Nets roster, and his head coaching career, much like many of these players, begins in the Summer League.

Next: Kilpatrick Shows Potential

If the Nets can manage to cut down on the turnovers, and get offensive contributions across the board similarly to the Cavaliers game, Brooklyn certainly has a chance to improve to 2-0 in the Las Vegas Summer League on Monday.