Jordi Fernandez’s Michael Porter Jr. benching comes with direct ‘challenge’

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Jordi Fernandez’s Michael Porter Jr. benching comes with direct ‘challenge’

Erik Slater, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Wed, Mar 4, 2026 ·

4 min read

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Jordi Fernandez's Michael Porter Jr. benching comes with direct 'challenge' appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

The Brooklyn Nets lost their ninth straight game on Tuesday, 124-98 to the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center. After struggling alongside Michael Porter Jr. , Nic Claxton had an apt description of his team's performance in their first of back-to-back matchups in South Beach.

"It was an all-around stinker," Claxton said.

The Nets are searching for victories outside of the scoreboard during a rebuilding season. However, they'd be hard-pressed to find many from Tuesday's performance.

Jordi Fernandez's squad was abysmal on both ends, shooting 33-of-96 (38.4 percent) from the field and 6-of-32 (18.8 percent) from three while committing 18 turnovers. Brooklyn struggled to get into its offensive sets all night against Miami's hounding defense.

Porter turned in his worst performance of the season, scoring nine points on 3-of-17 shooting from the field and 0-of-9 from three. Fernandez yanked his top player two minutes into the third quarter, holding him out until the 9:43 mark of the fourth.

The two exchanged words several times during Porter's benching.

"I want Mike and the first group to play as hard as they can," Fernandez said of his decision to pull Porter. "I want to challenge them to do it, because I've seen them doing it, especially on the defensive end. If that happens, I can live with whatever happens. If that is there, then you're being selfless, you're playing for the team, and just good things happen. I'm trying to just challenge every guy in different ways."

Porter was among the NBA's most efficient scorers early this season, averaging 25.6 points on .482/.398/.851 shooting splits across his first 38 appearances.

Michael Porter Jr., rookie point guards struggle as Nets drop ninth straight

Many expected Porter's first-half performance to earn him his first All-Star selection , something he admitted had motivated him. However, the 27-year-old's production has fallen off a cliff since being snubbed.

Porter has averaged 19.2 points on 40.8 percent shooting from the field and 23.5 percent (20-of-85) from three over his last 11 outings. He's posted a -21.5 net rating during that span compared to a -1.5 net rating prior.

While Porter was terrible, a historically bad performance from Brooklyn's rookie point guards was equally debilitating. With Egor Demin sidelined , Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf each posted zero assists and six turnovers through three quarters.

The Heat outscored the Nets 16-6 in points off turnovers through three periods, building a lead from which they would never look back.

"[Nolan and Ben] need to grow. They need to grow and watch it and learn from it," Fernandez said. "And I know they're better. It's not an excuse if they're young. I've watched them play, and they're way better than 12 turnovers to zero assists. How they organize the team, how vocal they are, all that, it's important."

Noah Clowney was one of Brooklyn's lone bright spots on Tuesday. The third-year forward posted 17 points and seven rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. Danny Wolf added 11 points, five rebounds and five assists on 5-of-10 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench.

The Nets' nine-game skid has brought them into a tie with the Indiana Pacers for second place in the draft lottery standings . They're just 1.5 games back of the Sacramento Kings for the top spot.

Brooklyn will have a chance for revenge on Thursday during a rematch with Miami at Kaseya Center.

"It's tough, honestly. Stacking losses, it's tough to keep your good energy. But that's what we've gotta do," Claxton said. "We play [Miami] in a couple of days, and we just gotta try to find that good energy, especially coming up so we don't get punched in the mouth."

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