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A lot is going on in Long Island! Even before Friday morning’s moves that sent Grant Nelson to Brooklyn on a 10-day, returned Ben Saraf to the big club, and sent Drake Powell to the G League, the Nets’ G League affiliate lost a tight one, 119-116, to the Grand Rapids Gold Thursday night at Nassau Coliseum.
And in the midst of it all, Brooklyn may have found a new development prospect in Chaney Johnson.
Johnson is the newest and youngest two-way player on the Long Island Nets roster. At 6’8”, 225 pounds with a 6’11” wingspan and a max vertical approaching 40”, the 23-year-old Johnson has 3-and-D potential. Signed off the Cleveland Charge just before New Year’s, Johnson keeps making progress, and Thursday night, that progress reached a high point.
The Auburn product had his biggest game as a pro, scoring 29 points, one night after scoring 19! Johnson connected on 10 of his 12 tries, while hitting all three of his tries. The Alabama native also had seven rebounds, one assist, and two blocks … both in crucial moments for Long Island. He did everything he could to put the team in a position to win, but the Gold had their number.
Indeed, after a somewhat slow start, Johnson has taken off in the last nine games, averaging 15.5 points while shooting 77.7% from two and 32.0% from three and grabbing 5.5 rebounds. He was not the only Long Islander to impress on the back-to-back at Nassau Coliseum.
Complementing Johnson’s game, Saraf had another big game in what he no doubt hopes will be his 21st and final game in the G League.
Coming off his 12-for-19, 32-point shooting performance the night before, Saraf followed it up with yet another solid offensive output. He connected on nine of his 15 shots and connected on three of his six attempts from beyond the arc for 21 points, giving him 53 points in a little more than 24 hours. He also had two rebounds, two assists, and three steals, the most in the game.
However, one glaring issue with Saraf has always been ball protection. Saraf turned the ball over five times, Nolan Traore had the same issue in the early going of this season, and he turned his game around.
In his most recent assignment, Saraf has looked much better than earlier in the season. There were many times back then when he was a big question mark, as his Flatbush 5 counterparts took off. The 19-year old, the NBA’s eighth youngest player, has been showing flashes of why Brooklyn drafted him in the 2025 NBA Draft in the first place.
Malachi Smith had another performance. He finished with 18 points, shooting 60% overall. He hauled in seven rebounds, including five in the fourth quarter alone, and two steals. His big downfall came in the ball protection department, his Achilles heel since starting at the point a few weeks back. Smith turned the ball over seven times, leading the game. After the game, NetsDaily spoke with Smith about his performance…
“Obviously, those are good numbers,” Smith tells ND. “But the number that’s sticking with me right now is the seven turnovers. I pride myself on being a low-turnover point guard, and today it was just a lot of dumb ones that I wish I could get back. It’s not something I usually do. As I said, I pride myself on having low turnovers. I know it’s a game of possessions, and one play doesn’t ruin the game. Right now, it feels like those seven turnovers are a big reason we lost tonight, and that’s not a good feeling as a point guard. I have to just be better and learn from it.”
Putting aside the turnovers, since being named a starter for the first time, the Gonzaga product’s performances become quite common for Smith. When asked about what he attributes this to the most, Smith told ND, “I think just trusting my work, staying ready. I’ve played in a lot of big games in college and have contributed in multiple ways. So, I’ve always been the type to put the work in behind the scenes, and whenever my number gets called, the work will show. I think that’s just what you see. Credit to my teammates, the coaches for helping me develop, and my teammates for having faith in me, but just being ready whenever my number is called.”
The 26-year-old picked up 13 assists, continuing to showcase himself as a playmaker and cementing yet another double-double. Smith told ND after the game, “I think as a point guard, making sure your teammates get to their spots and helping them get to their spots, gives them confidence, but also opens up my game. If I’m spreading it, when I drive, they might fan out and let me finish. I try to make the right play at the end of the day. Whatever the right play is, I just want to make it. I do a lot of film and stuff. So, I try to know what the defense is going to do and try to find my teammates where they’re most comfortable.”
Nelson remained on a minutes restriction, being the only starter to not reach 30 minutes, but in his last game before being called up. Nelson finished with just over 26 minutes, but once again continued to make the most of every second on the court. He finished with 17 points, on 47% shooting. There was a big difference in Nelson’s game on Thursday. He took many more three-point attempts than normal.
Nelson connected on just one of his six shots from deep, the most he’s put up this season and likely something Brooklyn has encouraged. Nelson is trying to expand his game from beyond the arc in hopes of reaching the NBA. In today’s NBA, if you hope to not just thrive but survive, you have to know how to shoot from deep, even as a big man. Nelson showed himself to be a solid three-point shooter in college, so if he can get back to this, it’s just one more tool Nelson will have working for him.
Tyson Etienne finished with 18 points, having one of his better shooting performances as of late, connecting on seven of his 11 tries, including four-for-seven from deep. EJ Liddell had four points, his lowest output in weeks, connecting on two of his nine attempts. Liddell shone in other aspects of the game, including hauling in nine rebounds and finishing with a team-leading three blocks.
The Gold went on an 8-0 run in the first quarter before Long Island responded with a 22-4 run over the final 5:36 of the first. The Nets closed the first frame with a 30-22 advantage after scoring 18 points in the paint and shooting 57.9 percent (11-for-19) from the field in the first. Grand Rapids went on a 17-7 run from 11:19 to 5:45 in the second quarter to close the gap, but Long Island entered the break with a 55-51 lead. Johnson led all scorers with 16 points in the first half, shooting 83.3 percent (5-for-6) from the field and 100 percent (2-for-2) from deep before halftime, and the Nets held the Gold to just 27.3 percent (3-for-11) shooting from long range in the first half.
Long Island entered tonight’s game with a +19.5 net rating in third quarters, the best differential by an NBA G League team in any quarter this season, and the Nets continued that success by limiting the Gold to 38.5 percent (10-for-26) shooting from the field and 11.1 percent (1-for-9) shooting from deep in the third. After Grand Rapids started the fourth on a 15-7 run from 11:48 to 9:21 to regain the lead, both teams traded the lead over the final nine minutes. Johnson hit a layup to tie the game at 116 with 5.1 seconds left in regulation, but Grand Rapids made three free throws to secure the 119-116 victory. Long Island scored 60 points in the paint for the second consecutive game and dished out 31 assists.
Next Up
The Long Island Nets (15-11) return to the court on Sunday for a game against the Westchester Knicks at the Nassau Coliseum. The game tips off at 3:00 p.m. EST and can be watched on the NBA G League website and the Gotham Sports app.