Jan 12, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Tyrese Martin (13) brings the ball up court past Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall (13) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Assessing how the Brooklyn Nets Fare in Clutch Games

Originally posted on Brooklyn Nets on SI | By Jed Katz | Last updated Jan 15, 2026 7:00 AM ET

The Brooklyn Nets are in the middle of another rebuilding season at 11-26, aiming for a top draft pick in 2026. As we near the halfway point of the season, we have a pretty good idea of who Brooklyn is and how the team could finish this season.

The Nets are toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but they had a competitive month of basketball in December. They went 7-4, posting the league's top defensive rating before coming back to Earth at the turn of the year. Since Jan. 1, they're 1-6.

But looking at the bigger picture, December was really the only period in which games were either competitive or in Brooklyn's favor. The Nets have just 15 clutch matches this season (games that are within five points in the final five minutes), which ranks just 27th in the NBA. How have they performed in those 15?

Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The stats aren't promising. Both the offense and defense sputter in tight games, with Brooklyn ranking 28th and 29th in such ratings. Scoring the ball is extremely difficult, as the Nets are averaging 3.9 points per clutch game, which is by far the worst in the league (the Boston Celtics are 29th at 7.1 points per clutch game).

Even though there's more of an incentive to drop these games, they would need to play faster in order to win. Brooklyn's low-scoring and inefficient offense in the clutch aligns with its 89.18 pace, which is also dead last in the league.

One of the top skills I've seen from Nolan Traore: great vision and touch on skip passes. pic.twitter.com/U3JXBHMD4G
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) January 11, 2026

One positive is that the mistakes one would expect from a young, bottom-of-the-barrel team have not been too evident. The Nets rank 2nd, only behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, in turnovers per clutch game (0.5), showing how well they take care of the ball.

They also aren't solely relying on creating off the ball to score in these situations. Brooklyn is 14th in clutch assist percentage, which means the team isn't just turning to players such as Michael Porter Jr. to shoot them out of games. Although maybe letting him work off the dribble is the right move.

Still, while the Nets haven't been anywhere near great in tight games, they've had some fun moments. For instance, Egor Demin had his breakout moment against the Orlando Magic, dropping 10 of his 18 points in overtime and hitting the game-tying shot in regulation. Brooklyn would have walked away with the victory if Paolo Banchero hadn't banked in a game-winner at the horn.

Of those 15 clutch games, the Nets are a league-worst 3-12. This is probably more of a good thing, especially when considering the goal for the season. More of these experiences for youngsters such as Demin, Noah Clowney, Danny Wolf and others will only help their development.

This article first appeared on Brooklyn Nets on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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