Nothin' But Nets
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Brooklyn Nets vs. Orlando Magic: How to watch, what to watch for

By Phil Watson

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 15: Milton Doyle #34 of the Brooklyn Nets shoots the ball during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers during the Quarterfinals of the 2017 Las Vegas Summer League on July 15, 2017 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 15: Milton Doyle #34 of the Brooklyn Nets shoots the ball during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers during the Quarterfinals of the 2017 Las Vegas Summer League on July 15, 2017 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Brooklyn Nets open Las Vegas Summer League play Friday when they face the Orlando Magic. Here’s how to watch and what to watch for.

The Brooklyn Nets will play the second game Friday of the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League session at Cox Pavilion, taking on the Orlando Magic to open their Summer League slate.

The Nets have a mix of young NBA veterans, G-Leaguers looking for a training camp invitation and undrafted rookies seeking to garner some attention from personnel directors.

Here are the specifics for Friday’s matchup:

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Date: Friday, July 6
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Place: Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas
TV: NBA TV
Streaming: NBA TV
Records: Brooklyn Nets (first game), Orlando Magic (first game)

The Nets and Magic will follow the Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers in the five-game session at Cox Pavilion on Friday, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves to follow.

At the Thomas & Mack Center, the five games will include Toronto Raptors-New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder-Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks-Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors.

For the first time ever, all 30 NBA teams will be represented in a single Summer League session, with each team playing three preliminary games before seeding for the tournament stage is determined.

Here are three things to watch for Friday:

NBA debut (sort of) for Brooklyn Nets rookie Rodions Kurucs

Second-round draft pick Rodions Kurucs is scheduled to play Friday, even though first-round pick Dzanan Musa is being held out of Summer League competition and is just in Las Vegas as an observer.

Kurucs is a 6-foot-9, 220-pound combo forward from Latvia who played the last two seasons with FC Barcelona in Spain. He’s a solid shooter and aggressive off the dribble, but showed a tendency to get a bit lost defensively at times.

The 20-year-old entered the 2017 NBA Draft before withdrawing and had gained significant interest from Nets general manager Sean Marks, who made the selection with the 40th overall pick and signed Kurucs to a four-year deal.

He’s likely not NBA-ready, but we’ll get an idea of what we might expect from Kurucs when we see him play against some degree of NBA-level competition.

The battle of the young Texas bigs

Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen put together a strong rookie campaign in 2017-18 and will be making his Summer League debut this year after sitting out last summer’s Vegas session with an injured hip.

He was the 22nd overall pick by the Nets in the 2017 NBA Draft after playing one season at the University of Texas.

Allen will face off with the player who replaced him in the Longhorns’ lineup last season, Mo Bamba. Bamba was the sixth overall pick in last month’s draft by the Magic.

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    • As a rookie, Allen started 31 of Brooklyn’s last 32 games and finished strong and it will be interesting to see if he’s made any progress with adding shooting range to his offensive repertoire.

    Familiar faces

    Brooklyn’s Summer League roster features four players who saw time with the Nets last season, including Allen, two-year veteran wing Caris LeVert and a pair of two-way players from 2017-18 in guard Milton Doyle and forward James Webb.

    Point guard Semaj Christon is the only other player on the Nets this summer with previous NBA experience. Christon spent the 2016-17 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder before playing in China last season.

    Orlando has four rookies from last year’s roster set to play in Vegas, including Jonathan Isaac, Khem Birch, Wesley Iwundu and Rodney Purvis.

    Perhaps the most recognizable name on the Magic this summer is stretch 5 Byron Mullens, who played for four NBA teams over five seasons from 2009-14 before going on a world tour the last four seasons that included stops in China, the G-League, Turkey, the United Arab Emerites and Iran.

    Next: 4 to watch in Las Vegas Summer League

    The Nets will be back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern when they face the Thunder at Cox Pavilion.