After a humbling season-opening loss , coach Jordi Fernandez challenged his Nets to show more fight and his stars, Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr., to give more on both ends.

He got all of that and more. And it still wasn’t enough, as Brooklyn dropped its home opener 131-124 to Cleveland before a crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center.

It was a more encouraging outing for the rebuilding Nets (0-2), Year Two into a tank and knee deep into a youth movement. It was, frankly, exactly the kind of game much of their fanbase would want. Competitive. Exciting. And in the end, one step closer to the all-important lottery. 4

After suffering a 136-117 loss at Charlotte two nights earlier — when Thomas and Porter were a combined minus-38 and were embarrassingly bad defensively — Fernandez dema

See Full Page