Jalen Wilson stays hot and Nets stay winning, beating Orlando Magic 102-100
Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
The Nets are 3-1 and Jalen Wilson is a legitimate Summer League MVP candidate after Brooklyn beat Orlando in OT Thursday. In another NBA 2K25-like Summer League win Thursday, Jalen Wilson had the 3-point sliders turned all the way up. Leading his team to a 102-100 overtime victory, the Brooklyn Nets second-year swingman came through with another performance that’ll make you question whether or not he needs any more Vegas burn. He’s been that good.
Wilson tallied 33 points to go with 10 boards and an assist in the win over the Orlando Magic. No other player on either team finished with more than 20. He’s now averaging 24.3 points a game, making him a top-five Summer League scorer.
To get there, Wilson shot 6-of-7 from beyond the arc and 11-of-20 overall. His biggest one was the game-decider and summer trip-extender all in one, as Wilson scored Brooklyn’s final two points in an Elam ending to win the game and extend his team’s stay in Sin City.
Who else but @thejalenwilson to secure the W ‼️ pic.twitter.com/wOjo0XCyrX— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 19, 2024
It was the second time in four games Wilson came up with the winning basket. Last Friday night, he scored on a similar drive to beat the Pacers.
A whole lot else happened first to get us there. Much like in their win vs New York, the Nets stumbled out of the gates, trailing Orlando 15-6 roughly halfway through this game’s first frame. Wilson opened the scoring for Brooklyn with a triple near the top of the key — giving the Magic an appetizer of the full six-course dinner to come.
A minor burst, led by free agent Tyrese Martin, allowed Brooklyn to square up with Orlando at 15-15, but the Magic pulled away again not long after that. Of Batman Wilson’s many Robins tonight, the 6’6” Martin was arguably the best, finishing as the team’s second-leading scorer with 19 points to go along with five boards, three assists, and a steal while shooting 5-of-10 from the field.
The only other Dick Grayson candidate would be Noah Clowney, who also dazzled at times in the first half. He helped catapult the Nets in front during the second quarter where Brooklyn outscored Orlando 31-18. Clowney’s floor spacing ability along with his length were on full display as the Nets captured the lead, surely putting a smile on the face of any basketball modernist under contract to Brooklyn. Clowney walked into halftime with 14 points while shooting 4-of-6 from downtown and the Nets did so with a 49-41 lead.
.@NoahClowney catching fire from deep pic.twitter.com/60iMbOThpC— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 19, 2024
In the second half, the Magic weren’t able to conjure up anything to stop Wilson whose long-range missiles were hot by that point. Wilson nailed four triples early in the third frame to push Brooklyn ahead by a 64-49 score. All were of the catch-and-shoot nature — a good sign considering those are the most likely variety he’ll be taking for the Nets come autumn.
Indeed, Wilson who shot 31.6% at Kansas, 27.5% for Long Island and 32.4% for Brooklyn last season, is now hitting 55.5% from three in the Summer League and leading the league with 3-pointers made with 20.
Keon Johnson queued up Wilson for several of his threes tonight, including two in the third. The 22-year-old finished with 10 assists along with five rebounds, battling through a tough offensive night otherwise. KJ finished with 12 points on 3-of-13 from the field and 1-of-8 from deep. Again, if you’re a Nets fan or work at HSS Training Center, it’s yet another positive sign...
Keon Johnson has shown some very impressive playmaking flashes at Summer League.Nets SL HC Steve Hetzel said decision-making and processing were the main focuses of Johnson's offseason offensively. pic.twitter.com/2erlg0fhBt— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) July 19, 2024
As the ex-Jayhawk hit the bench and the Nets consequentially cooled off from deep, Orlando began to inflict their will inside, led by 7-footer Jay Huff who finished with 20 points, often just bullying his way into the paint. He dropped nine points and a dime to keep his team afloat in the third.
Indeed, the Magic finished with a whopping 50-22 advantage in the paint. Whenever a team reliant on the three starts to grow cold while up against an inside effort like that, any lead will start to crumble like a wet sandcastle. High tide had indeed come for Brooklyn, as they pulled into the final period — or what they believed to be the final period — ahead only 75-72.
There, the teams finally went toe-to-toe after only trading runs up till then . The fourth quarter had six lead changes and neither team could muster a final push as the clock ticked down, forcing an overtime period with an Elam ending — first team to seven points wins.
Johnson had a chance to win it with the game tied 95-95 and roughly five seconds to go but couldn’t get a shot off. He and everyone else would have to wait a few more minutes for Wilson to do what he’s getting famous for, icing the game on a tough drive to the rack.
Martin got him in good position to do so, nailing an early triple in the extra frame to set the tone. But Johnson, who hits better than 90% of his free throws, missed a pair, then made up for it, hitting two shortly after to put Brooklyn one basket away as Orlando made things interesting with a Jared Rhoden three and a Jarrett Culver jumper that tied things 100-100. Wilson seemingly had had enough. Ballgame.
"Just shows the grit. Shows the heart that we have." ️ @thejalenwilson on a second overtime W for the squad pic.twitter.com/onGdMeyQoV— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 19, 2024
“It just shows the grit, it shows the heart that we have,” said Wilson postgame of the team’s two OT wins. “We kept our composure through games that we have been down. Or like this game, we were up this game and kind of let the lead go away. So, we just showed our composure and showed our will to win.”
Absent from it all was Dariq Whitehead, who was on the bench but only in street clothes. The Nets put it down as “rest.” Of course, the 19-year-old, coming off his third leg surgery in two years, has shot 3-of-34 in Summer League, his game a 0-of-10 zero.
Brooklyn has at least one more game in Las Vegas, then the playoffs. Last season, Wilson led to the Nets to the Summer League Final Four. This year, he may do it again or go further. And as his Kansas teammate — and Nugget forward Christian Braun tweeted may more than that.
Jalen Wilson Summer League MVP — Christian Braun (@Ballin25Braun) July 19, 2024
The Nets will play again this weekend, but the schedule at this point is TBD. Jett Howard, the Magic forward and son of Nets assistant coach Juwan Howard didn’t play.
Box Score: Brooklyn Nets 102, Orlando Magic 100 - NBA
Game Highlights: Brooklyn Nets 102, Orlando Magic 100 (Video) - NBA
Highlights: Jalen Wilson, 33 points, 10 rebounds (Video) - NBA
NBA 2K25 Summer League: Jalen Wilson does it all in Nets’ OT win - Dan Bruno - NBA
3 takeaways from Nets’ 102-100 win over Magic in summer league - Sharif Phillips-Keaton - Yahoo! Sports
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