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Brooklyn Nets vs. OKC Thunder: TV info, live stream, what to watch for

ByPhil Watson|
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 6: The Brooklyn Nets bench reacts to a play during the game against the Orlando Magic during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 6, 2018 at the Cox Pavilion 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 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 6: The Brooklyn Nets bench reacts to a play during the game against the Orlando Magic during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 6, 2018 at the Cox Pavilion 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 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Brooklyn Nets will be back at it in Las Vegas Saturday, taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder at Cox Pavilion. Here’s how to watch and what to watch for.

Neither the Brooklyn Nets nor the Oklahoma City Thunder will have a lot of time to lick their wounds after opening losses in the Las Vegas Summer League on Friday. The Nets and Thunder tip off Saturday at 7 p.m. ET from Cox Pavilion.

The Nets, playing without young veterans Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen, draft picks Dzanan Musa and Rodions Kurucs or draft-and-stash arrival Juan Pablo Vaulet, fell to the Orlando Magic 86-80 on Friday.

Brooklyn also lost Chinese Basketball Association star Ding Yanyuhang, who returned to China with a reported knee injury.

The Thunder, meanwhile, lost a tight 88-87 decision to the Charlotte Hornets at Thomas and Mack Center on Friday.

Here are the specifics for Saturday’s matchup:

Oklahoma City Thunder (0-1) at Brooklyn Nets (0-1)
Date: Saturday, July 7
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Place: Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas
TV: NBA TV
Streaming: NBA TV

The Nets and Thunder are the middle of five games at Cox Pavilion on Saturday.

Their matchup will be preceded by the Portland Trail Blazers-Utah Jazz and Miami Heat-New Orleans Pelicans games and followed by meetings between the Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets.

At Thomas & Mack Center, the docket includes San Antonio Spurs-Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks-Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns-Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls-Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers-Los Angeles Lakers.

Here are three things to watch for Saturday:

1. Will Nets fans see their guys?

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Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert were healthy scratches on Friday, while Rodions Kurucs is in limbo while his buyout from FC Barcelona is finalized. Dzanan Musa wasn’t expected to participate in Las Vegas anyway and Juan Pablo Vaulet is dealing with a foot injury.

There were some bright spots for the Nets in their loss to Orlando. Israeli native Shawn Dawson scored 20 points in just 18 minutes, showing a willingness and aptitude for driving and finishing. Japan’s Yuta Watanabe played solid defensively and showed some outside shooting touch.

But it was a disappointment of sorts not to see Allen and LeVert Friday. Allen had a strong finish to his rookie year and many fans are anxious to see his progress since the end of last season.

LeVert is the “veteran” of this group of Nets, having finished his second year and also having a strong second half as he adapted to playmaking responsibilities while playing the point guard spot.

2. Can Brooklyn cut down the mistakes?

The Nets, in somewhat typical Summer League fashion, turned the ball over 16 times on Friday, including 12 in the first half, when Orlando turned a 10-point deficit into a 42-34 halftime lead.

Milton Doyle, recently re-signed to a second two-way contract with the Nets, turned it over four times, as did Dawson. Theo Pinson, the undrafted rookie from North Carolina, lived up to scouting reports that said he had a tendency to play out of control with three turnovers in 24 minutes.

Brooklyn also shot the ball better from 3-point range (11-for-29, 37.9 percent) than it did inside the arc (18-for-48, 37.5 percent), which is never a promising ratio.

The Nets were aggressive attacking the rim on Friday, perhaps too aggressive at times as Dawson, Pinson and Doyle all struggled with biting off more than the defense would allow them to chew and settling for wild off-balance attempts.

Defensively, the Nets were a step slow at times, getting caught on screens too easily and missing some fairly basic rotations inside. Hey, throw a team together in a week or so and this is what happens and everyone in Vegas is experiencing the same issues.

3. What’s Oklahoma City got?

The Thunder were led Friday by 23 points in just 24 minutes from Rashawn Thomas, an undrafted power forward from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2017 who played last season for the G-League’s Oklahoma City Blue, averaging 13.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

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    • Small forward Daniel Hamilton finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists against Charlotte, logging 26 minutes. The former Connecticut wing was a second-round pick by the Denver Nuggets in 2016 and played in six games for the Thunder last season on a two-way contract.

    Oklahoma City only brought 13 players to Las Vegas and four were DNPs on Friday. The Thunder’s lone draft pick in last month’s draft, shooting guard Devon Hall out of Virginia, logged 16 minutes on Friday.

    The 53rd overall pick had a rough introduction to NBA-style play, going 0-for-5 from the floor, missing both of his 3-point attempts and logging one rebound and two assists.

    The oldest member of the Thunder is point guard Phil Pressey. The 27-year-old was last on an NBA roster in the 2016 preseason, when he was waived by the Golden State Warriors.

    Pressey played 125 games over two seasons with the Boston Celtics from 2013-15 and was briefly with the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns in 2015-16.

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    Last season, he was a teammate of Brooklyn draft pick Rodions Kurucs with FC Barcelona in Spain, where he averaged 4.5 points and 1.9 assists per game in a reserve role.