Nets drop season opener to Hawks after Nic Claxton is tossed for flagrant-2 foul

ATLANTA — Jordi Fernandez didn’t want to place too much on his first game as a head coach. But he recognized its significance.

The Nets tipped off their season Wednesday night at the Hawks and Fernandez, 41, became the NBA’s first Spanish-born head coach. It fulfilled a dream but didn’t change the reality in front of him.

“[It’s] an honor, because of the journey, right, and where I come from,” Fernandez said this week. “But other than that, it’s the next step, and I don’t want to stop in my career and then just be happy with it.”

The Nets lost, 120-116, at State Farm Arena so Fernandez’s first win will have to wait. Cam Thomas scored 36 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter, and shot 14-for-27 from the field.

The Nets led 61-53 in the third quarter before the Hawks made an 8-0 run that tied the score and kept it close the rest of the way. But the game turned in the fourth after a hard foul by Nic Claxton

After a Dyson Daniels steal, he was clotheslined on a breakaway layup by Claxton, who made little attempt at the ball. Daniels got up, ran to Claxton and grabbed him out of bounds, forcing both to be separated.

After a replay review, Claxton’s foul was upgraded to a flagrant-2 and he was ejected with 8:03 remaining. Daniels was assessed a technical foul.

“That was clearly a foul,” Fernandez said of the play. “We don’t want to see anybody get hurt. I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean to. But yeah, our technique has to be better. Our purpose, lead with your chest and show your hands.”

It was an ignoble exit for Claxton in his debut after missing the preseason because of a hamstring injury. He had seven points and five rebounds in 15 minutes and came off the bench with a minutes restriction

Worse for the Nets, a 93-89 deficit only grew after Claxton’s exit. The Hawks’ lead grew to nine and the Nets got close but never threatened.

The Nets didn’t help themselves by committing 32 fouls leading to 46 Hawks free throws. Fernandez liked that his team was physical but he and the players agreed there needed to be better discipline with it.

“Just showing what we’ve been preaching all camp, all preseason,” Thomas said. “Playing physical, getting up into guys. But at the same time, we got to have a controlled physicality with us. Whether we feel like they were the right calls or not, 46 free throws is kind of unacceptable.”

Also unacceptable was 19 Nets turnovers. Ben Simmons and Dennis Schroder combined for 11 of them as the Nets’ dual-starting point guard experiment struggled against the Hawks’ physical defense.

Simmons, playing his first NBA game since Feb. 26, had as many turnovers (six) as points and nearly as many fouls with five despite eight assists in 24 minutes. Schroder closed the game running point and had 16 points with seven assists, but five turnovers.

“The more we play with each other, the more we’re going to see the reads,” Simmons said. I think there’s certain things I was seeing on the floor that maybe guys weren’t seeing and that’s just a little bit of time and understanding. Not exactly running the play all the way through.”

As expected, the Nets rebounded better with Claxton back. They had 12 offensive rebounds leading to 17 second chance points in the first half. But the Nets didn’t defend well with Claxton off the court.

The Hawks had 54 points, much of which came on lobs or cutters getting open. Reserve big man Onyeka Okongwu had 28 points on 11-for-12 shooting, all in the paint, while Trae Young had 30 points and 12 assists.

It was a rough start for a Nets’ season expected to be a rebuilding one. Jalen Wilson was a bright spot with 16 points in 34 minutes off the bench and Cam Johnson added 14 points.

But the loss foreshadowed what could be a tough season to come.

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.