Kurucs shines in Nets exhibition debut
Rookie pours in 13 points as Brooklyn falls to Knicks at Barclays
Nets rookie Rodions Kurucs waited an entire EuroLeague season plus three quarters of the Brooklyn Nets’ exhibition opener at Barclays Center Wednesday night to get into some meaningful game action.
Finally unleashed from the bench, the 6-foot-9 Latvian made the most of his first 12 minutes in the NBA, scoring 13 points to go with four rebounds, four steals and two assists in the Nets’ 107-102 preseason loss to the New York Knicks in front of 12,424 fans on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.
Kurucs, the Nets’ second-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, went 4-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line for Brooklyn, which sat 19-year-old first-round pick Dzanan Musa, but watched as their 20-year-old former FC Barcelona sensation helped his team close the gap on the Knicks in the fourth quarter.