Nets Fall to Hornets 110-103 in Season Opener at Barclays Center The Brooklyn Nets lost their sixth straight season opener, falling to the Charlotte Hornets 110-103 at Barclays Center despite 33 points from Julius Randle and 24 from Michael Porter Jr. The Brooklyn Nets dropped their season opener 110-103 to the visiting Charlotte Hornets before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center on Wednesday night. It marked the Nets sixth straight season-opening defeat. The loss was deflating for a team trying to put three tough seasons behind it and turn the page. Brooklyn had gone through a disappointing 2023-24 followed by two overt tanking seasons and desperately wanted to build momentum. Losing to a shorthanded, eminently beatable Charlotte team with a grueling six-game gauntlet looming risks building all the wrong kinds of momentum.Randle Leads Nets With Strong Debut PerformanceThe Hornets were missing Kon Knueppel and Coby White. Julius Randle, acquired to be a floor-raiser, poured in a game-high 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting, added eight rebounds and doled out a team-high seven assists. He joined James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Seth Curry and Orlando Woolridge as the only Nets to notch 20-5-5 in their debuts.Michael Porter Jr. shook off a slow start to finish with 24 points, seven boards and three steals, the latter impressive for a player not known for his defense. He was held to just six points in a muted first half. Porter drilled two quick 3-pointers coming out of the break to pull Brooklyn within 62-58. His four-point play gave the Nets a 64-62 lead with 8:12 left in the third, and he even notched steals on back-to-back possessions.But none of that was enough. Naz Reid dazzled with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in his Hornets debut. Dennis Schroder lit up his former team with 19 points and six assists. Brandon Miller ripped off 12 points right out of the gate to leave the Nets in a 21-15 hole with 2:37 left in the first quarter.Brooklyn was outscored 20-8 on second-chance points. The Nets handed out just 22 assists against 22 turnovers, a sure recipe for failure. And this was definitely failure. One of the biggest complaints from last season is that this Nets team is too soft.Nets Display Increased Physicality On CourtThere were several instances in the first half where the team was willing to throw a few pushes and shoves and really mix it up with this Hornets team. Could it be a direct impact of having Randle in the locker room? Perhaps, but the more the Nets are willing to show their physicality on a nightly basis, the easier it will be for them to strike more fear into their opponents.Randle's physical play has clearly bled throughout the rest of this group, but he proved to be the initiating force this Nets team needed last season. The Nets may not have a lot of offensive weapons outside of Randle and Porter.Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. still need time to develop, but their offense could be in for some explosive nights when both guys get it going, especially as Brooklyn's newest duo gets more acclimated to playing alongside each other. Brown checked in for the Nets with 3:57 left in the first quarter, and his first NBA points came on a strong drive into Charlotte center Moussa Diabate for an and-one 1:40 later.Rookies Struggle With Shot Selection And EfficiencyHe checked into the game to heavy applause and his name was chanted. He drilled a deep 3-pointer but was otherwise held in check and his questionable shot selection was on display. He looked fairly composed and comfortable on the ball in his first official NBA game, with only a single preseason cameo appearance under his belt. Perhaps just as relevant was the fact that the Nets simply looked better with him on the ball.After Egor Demin had spent his at-times overwhelmed rookie season getting turned at the point of attack and altogether incapable of touching the paint, the Russian was at least actively getting downhill on Wednesday. He was just largely ineffective when he did so, with three turnovers and just two assists. Demin could not buy a 3-pointer despite that being the strongest aspect of his game and was essentially a nonfactor from the playmaking department.Nolan Traore, Demin and Brown could hardly get anything to go in this one. The Nets now face six straight upcoming games against teams projected for 44.5 wins by Las Vegas bookmakers. Sameer Kumar covers the NBA and specializes in providing analysis on player performance and telling stories beyond the numbers.