While many of the Nets' goals for this year remain somewhat unclear – are they competitive or competitive? – The team’s intentions – to spark a “Brooklyn Grit” renaissance – were crystal clear. From Jordi Fernández's opening press conference to the team's on-pitch performances, now with five games under its belt, a focus has been on showing commitment and passion.

But tonight this movement would face its first real test, if not in style then in name. The Nets visited perhaps the only team more associated with the term “grit” thanks to its “grit and grind” era — and gave us a dandy.

Like any battle for ownership of a word like “grit,” this one began with some fanfare. The first points of the game quickly went to Zach Edey – shortly after the rook had completely flattened Dennis Schröder on a screen. Schröder stood up in more ways than one, but more on that later.

Not long after, Jordi Fernández had his own eyebrow-raising moment. The coach picked up right where he left off in last night's press conference, filling in for Cam Thomas in a way we've never seen from any other coach in his career.

After Denver shot 20 more free throws than Brooklyn last night, Fernández argued that Cam was dissed. He said after the game that Thomas' whistle was unfairly muted and mentioned that Thomas is one of the best scorers in the NBA and should be treated as such.

Ironically, Thomas blew the whistle early on in Memphis, right on offense, when he appeared to catch Marcus Smart on a drive to the basket. After the call, Fernández defended Thomas again and was rewarded with a technical foul.

“I was just trying to fight for my guys,” Fernández said after the game. “But that’s the game of basketball. Sometimes that happens because you want to make sure they’re protected so they’re not the ones complaining.”

After the first eventful two minutes, everyone seemed to calm down. The game's opening frame was also highlighted by an aggressive Ben Simmons, who finished the first quarter with six points, one assist, one steal and one rebound after taking and making three shots. Progress?

However, this aggressiveness was a double-edged sword, as Ben10, on the other hand, did not have the restraint necessary to stay out of foul trouble. Simmons picked up two fouls less than five minutes into the game, securing a quick spot alongside Fernández. He struggled with foul trouble all night, only needing one more shot and coming in with a stat line of 8/3/5, on par with what we've seen from him so far in Brooklyn.

Memphis maintained the lead early, taking advantage of Brooklyn's lack of size, now negated by Simmons' foul trouble. Without Nic Claxton and with Day'Ron Sharpe still out, the team lacked a true center, which made things easy for Edey, among others, early in the game.

But the Nets, who first claimed copyright to the adjective “grit,” soon fought back. The little ball eventually produced some positive results as a fivesome of Schröder, Jalen Wilson, Noah Clowney, Ziaire Williams and Keon Johnson came in and spurred a 16-5 run that gave the Nets a 34-29 lead at the end of the first period brought.

Williams made his presence more widely known in the years that followed and beyond. Against a team that had all but given up on him, Z-Dub looked more like the one getting away than anything else, showing chemistry with Jalen Wilson, among other things.

In the end, it was John Wick-level revenge for him. Williams finished his career with 17 points, one rebound, three assists, one block and four steals – a career best. He also shot a decent 6-10 from the field.

The Nets were buoyed by the return of the prodigal son and led 67-62 at halftime. Looking at the shooting distribution in the first half was almost like looking in the mirror with Brooklyn's .556/.375 slashing and Memphis' .568/.417 slugging. The difference was that Memphis committed 15 turnovers at that point, which led to 17 points for Brooklyn. This number would continue to rise as the game progressed, giving us another compelling argument for full parental control over “Grit.”

In the next quarter, Brooklyn took its largest lead of the contest thanks to an 8-0 scoreline that opened the scoring. But this time it was Memphis that stood firm.

The Grizzlies went on a 17-5 run midway through the third period to tie the game at 83-83. The Brooklyn offense collapsed, went scoreless for nearly five minutes, missed its good looks and began committing its own share of turnovers. After Brooklyn played almost ten straight quarters without a mistake, this fall back to earth honestly felt inevitable, but still felt sobering.

However, things slowed down after the Nets and Grizzlies delivered a plethora of free throws that Memphis caused after reckless closeouts by Noah Clowney, Jaren Jackson Jr. and even a technical foul on Keon Johnson, which resulted in his ejection. It allowed the Nets to go back up by one before the fourth period. Although Keon Johnson probably earned a spot on the bench sooner than he would have liked, he also grabbed seven rebounds in the game – a career and team record at the time.

From then on it was just the Dennis Schröder show. The veteran point guard hit two quick shots to open the fourth and extend Brooklyn's lead to six. Schröder's control of Brooklyn's offense was just as enormous as it was 24 hours ago. It was as if his jump shot, his touch at the rim, and his situational drive-and-kick skills were constantly trying to outdo each other. I still don't have an answer as to who did best.

Whether taking shots or assisting on them, Schröder had his fingerprints on nearly every Brooklyn possession as they marched from Memphis to the finish line without much challenge. The one who provided the ice was a hockey player that Thomas liked to shoot straight into the net from 25 feet away.

“At one point he said, 'Just give me the ball.' I’ll take care of it,” Fernandez said of Schröder. “And that’s exactly what he does. He is a leader. He gets everyone in position. When he has to score, he scores.”

It was no wonder that a player nicknamed “the Menace” was so instrumental in helping Brooklyn close out that game against Grind City. That they tirelessly held on to the ball and forced 22 turnovers that led to 31 points.

They won with their boldest guy and won with the boldest stats. It was more than enough to win the custody battle over the floor – and of course the game.

Final: Brooklyn Nets 119, Memphis Grizzles 106

Milestone clock

• Dennis Schröder had a Nets career-high 33 points. Ziaire Williams had a career-best four steals, Keon Johnson had a career-best seven rebounds and Jalen Wilson had a career-best +25.
• Tonight was Schröder's fourth straight game with more than 20 points and more than five assists, making it the longest streak of his career. During this stretch, Schröder averaged 27.5 points with a shooting split of 61/59/90 and 8.5 assists.
• Brooklyn forced more than 20 turnovers. Last season, the Nets only forced more than 20 turnovers twice (3/31/24 against the LA Lakers and 3/7/24 in Detroit).

Next

The Nets will return to Brooklyn to next host the Chicago Bulls. This time last year, Brooklyn and Chicago faced off in an absolute classic of their NBA in-season tournament campaigns.