Nets lose to Pacers 123-94; EJ Liddell notches career-high 26 points
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets (20-60) had their last home game of the 2025-26 NBA season on Thursday in what was "Fan Appreciation" night for a fanbase that is starving for a winner. Brooklyn will have to wait to see what happens in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, but with the Indiana Pacers (19-61) visiting Barclays Center, the Nets weren't able to send the fans off in a positive manner.
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The Nets lost to the Pacers 123-94 in a contest where Brooklyn trailed by as many as 32 points thanks to how much they struggled on both ends of the floor. Two-Way forward EJ Liddell led the way for the Nets with 26 points and 10 rebounds, both career-highs, while rookie guard Ben Saraf had 19 points, five rebounds, and six assists in the losing effort.
The beginning of this game was potentially an omen for how the rest of the game was going to go as Brooklyn finished the first quarter trailing the Pacers 31-14. While Liddell had six points and three rebounds in the quarter, Pacers forward Obi Toppin had 12 points and five rebounds in just over six minutes off the bench, showing how much the Nets were missing the size of players like Nic Claxton and Day'Ron Sharpe in the paint.
The Nets did a great job of limiting Indiana's impact from behind the three-point line as they forced the Pacers to shoot just 8-of-31 (25.8%) from three-point land. However, Brooklyn struggled mightily due to their lack of size as they allowed Indiana to score 80 points in the paint and score 36 fastbreak points as Indiana was able to get whatever they wanted throughout the game.
The Nets are winding down the season as they're trying to finish the campaign strong despite dealing with the amount of injuries that they're dealing with. Brooklyn has two games left to play this season, with Friday's game at the Milwaukee Bucks coming up first, and the Nets will hope that Liddell and Saraf can continue to play well down the stretch.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets lose to Pacers 123-94; EJ Liddell notches career-high 26 points