The Nets won for the first time this season, 98-90 in Indiana

The Brooklyn Nets won for the first time this season, beating the Indiana Pacers 98-90 on Sunday night in Indianapolis.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 23 points and Julius Randle added 20 to lead Brooklyn, which had lost its first five games.

Day'Ron Sharpe had a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 13 rebounds, and the Nets held a 43-37 edge on the glass.

The Pacers are 2-5 and 0-3 at home.

The result snapped a five-game losing streak to start the season and gave Brooklyn its first win under a new rotation.

Indiana's home loss was its third straight at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Pacers have struggled to score all season.

Brooklyn's win was its first in six games and the first time it held an opponent under a hundred points.

The Nets' defense was the reason the game stayed slow, and the Pacers never found a rhythm.

Brooklyn's next game is at home against a team above five hundred.

Indiana's numbers explain the result. The Pacers made just 32% of their shots and 4 of 20 from 3-point range.

Andrew Nembhard led Indiana with 23 points and Pascal Siakam added 17, but the rest of the rotation could not produce efficiently.

Both teams started slowly. Brooklyn led early on Randle's 3-pointer, and neither side found a rhythm in the first quarter.

The Nets shot 38% in the first half and still led 43-40 at halftime because Indiana was worse.

Indiana's 4-of-20 night from beyond the arc is the number the coaching staff will study, because the Pacers generated good looks and missed them.

Nembhard's 23 points came mostly off drives, and Siakam's 17 were the only other double-digit line until late in the fourth.

Indiana's first half was the worst offensive half of its season: 40 points and 32 percent shooting.

That is why the Pacers had to chase the game for the rest of the game.

Brooklyn's 98 points were its highest total of the season, which says as much about the offense as the defense.

Indiana's shooting numbers were the difference: 32 percent from the field and 20 percent from three.

The Pacers' offense has now scored under a hundred in three of five losses.

Brooklyn led by 12 three different times in the third quarter, but Indiana cut the deficit to 75-72 in the first three minutes of the fourth.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Larry Nance Jr. and Nembhard made it a one-possession game, and that was as close as the Pacers got.

The Nets closed the game with stops rather than scores, which is how a team with a 1-5 record gets its first win.

Sharpe's rebounding was the quiet reason Brooklyn could survive its own shooting.

The Nets' fourth quarter was their best defensive stretch of the season. Brooklyn held Indiana to 28 points in the period, and most of those came after the game was decided.

Sharpe's 13 rebounds included four on the offensive end, which turned into second-chance points the Nets badly needed.

Sharpe's four offensive rebounds were the most important number in Brooklyn's final margin.

The Nets' bench was outscored, but the starters made up for it on the glass.

Brooklyn's start had been the worst in the Eastern Conference, and the roster questions were getting louder.

The win does not answer those questions, but it changes the tone around a young team that had been losing the same way every night.

Indiana's home start is a bigger problem. The Pacers have now lost three straight at home and have not found a half-court answer without their injured guards.

Both teams play again this week, and both will be judged by whether this game repeats.

Brooklyn's roster questions do not disappear with one win, but the defensive effort is the first evidence that the group can compete.

Indiana's problems are more urgent because they are structural: without their injured guards, the half-court offense has no organizer.

The Nets' schedule now gets harder, with three straight opponents above five hundred.

Indiana's next game is on the road, where the Pacers have been better.

Indiana's next three games are against teams with winning records, which makes the offensive problem more urgent.

The most encouraging number for Brooklyn is 90. Holding an NBA team to 90 points is the clearest path to a win for a roster without a proven closer.

The most concerning number for Indiana is 4-of-20. That is not a cold night; it is a shot-quality problem.

The Nets' next opponent is a playoff team, which will show whether the defensive effort travels.

The Pacers' next game is on the road, where they have been better this season.

The Nets' next three games are against teams with winning records, which will show whether 90 points allowed was a beginning.

The Pacers' next game is on the road, and their offense has been better there this season.

The Nets' next two games are at home, where they have played better than on the road.

Indiana's next game is on the road, and the Pacers need a shooting night to reset.