Nets rally to give Jordi Fernandez tight win over ex-team Kings, mentor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nets coach Jordi Fernandez going back to Sacramento to play the Kings and Mike Brown wasn’t just facing a mentor: It was facing family.

Brown didn’t take it easy on his protégé Sunday, and Fernandez wouldn’t have wanted him to. He earned his victory over his former boss, a 108-103 come-from-behind win before 16,750 at Golden1Center.

“I just want to kick his ass. And then give him a hug afterwards. And I’m sure he feels the same way, the same way about me,” Brown laughed before the game.

“That’s great. I take the hug, I don’t take the first part,” Fernandez said. “We’ll try to do the same thing for sure.”

It was a tough one, and a nail-biter. But the Nets built a 19-point lead, trailed in the fourth quarter and used a 15-4 run to take the lead for good.

Cam Thomas had a game-high 34 points and Brooklyn shot 19-for-39 from deep to improve to 7-10. And Fernandez got his win over his former boss.

Their ties run deep. Fernandez met Brown in 2009, when Fernandez was a young development coach from Spain, working at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas. Brown — then the Cavaliers coach — had his middle school son, Elijah, working out under Fernandez during Summer League, and the Spaniard impressed him.

It was the start of a mentorship, Fernandez serving multiple stints as Brown’s assistant — the last time from 2022-24 in Sacramento.

“Yeah, he’s a mentor, but he’s more than that. He’s like family to me. I would not be in this position without him. He’s the one that brought me here, and then years later we were back together,” Fernandez said. “I’m in this position because of Coach Brown and the organization that put me in this position. So, really cool story.”

And Brown was convinced this position — entrusted with the Nets’ rebuild — is the perfect position for Fernandez to succeed.

Everything Fernandez showed Sunday just underscored that.

“He’s just the right guy for the job,” Brown said. “They’re obviously thinking about a rebuild, at least that’s what you hear from the outside. And so you need somebody with a plan, with energy. And then with the right focus in terms of relationships and stuff like that. Because going through that process, if that’s what they’re doing, it can be a lot of ups and downs.”

“So you need a guy that’s going to be steady, have good relationships with everybody and keep the spirits up and all that other stuff. He has them playing really, really, really hard. They’re doing some good things on both sides of the ball. I can only imagine the success that he’s going to have, especially given some time once they figure out which direction they may not want to go.”

After committing 19 turnovers Friday in Philadelphia, the Nets had just one in a clean first quarter that saw them lead, 37-28.

Ahead just 29-25 after De’Aaron Fox (31 points) hit a step-back jumper with 1:46 left in the first, the Nets mounted a 19-7 run that spanned the quarters.

Ben Simmons had a chase-down block, then pushed the pace the other way to find Noah Clowney for a corner 3-pointer and 54-35 cushion with 7:19 in the half.

The Nets had their cushion cut to eight at the break.

It was still 82-75 before the Nets gave up a 13-3 run, going down by three with 23.4 seconds left in the third on a Keegan Murray free throw.

Murray caused the Nets pain again in the fourth. Clowney was forced out of the game with a left ankle injury after landing on Murray’s foot.

Clowney had to be helped off with 18 points on 5-for–8 from deep with 6:05 left.

But it came during the 15-4 run where the Nets flipped the game.

Trailing 94-90 with 9:14 to play, Brooklyn buckled down and executed, Shake Milton finding Jalen Wilson for a 3-pointer and 105-98 edge.

“That’s the respect: You always want to beat your opponent, and I hope that that’s what he wants to do, the same thing we’ll do, obviously with a lot of respect,” Fernandez said. “At some point, hopefully I can give him a big hug after the game. But we’re here to compete, to fight for 48 minutes, every single possession, no matter who’s in.”

It was a victorious hug from Fernandez.