NEW ORLEANS — Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry had the nerve to call the Nets the most dangerous team in the league, but the only threat they posed Wednesday night was sending their fans into depression.
The Nets got hammered 128-113 before 16,707 at Smoothie King Center in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score made it sound. It was their seventh loss in the past eight games, and the second humiliating blowout in that span.
“That’s two of them this year: Toronto and [Wednesday]. It’s not good for anybody. It’s not good for the team, it’s not good for the organization, the fans don’t like it, I understand that,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “And I think our players, overall, they understand. The good thing about our group, they’ve always bounced back. I expect them to bounce back in these next games.”
That Toronto game was a season-worst 120-87 loss on Dec. 15. This one wasn’t a whole lot better, and afterward Atkinson was unwilling to rule out lineup changes for Friday’s game at Miami.
“We’ve got to look at that first group and why we’re [flat]. We have to look at it,” Atkinson said. “I can’t give you an answer right now. But do we have to inject more energy in there? I’m not sure what that looks like, but it’s something we’ve got to look at.”
New Orleans’ frontcourt duo of Anthony Davis (team-high 33 points, 11 rebounds) and DeMarcus Cousins (27 points, game-high 14 boards, five assists) dominated the Nets. Rajon Rondo handed out a franchise-record 25 assists for the Pelicans (18-16), the fifth-most in NBA history.
And the Nets (12-22) trailed by as many as 33 in the third quarter. It was the textbook definition of a rout.
“We just didn’t bring it the way we needed to. The defense wasn’t locked in the way we needed. We’ve got to figure it out. Being on losing streaks like this isn’t fun,” said Allen Crabbe, who had three points on 1-of-6 shooting. “It starts with the starting five. Our energy wasn’t what it needed to be to start the game. … We’re almost halfway through the season. We’ve got to figure it out.”
Atkinson benched that starting five for the entire fourth quarter, except for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who logged 2:15. The rest got to sit next to the coach and think about their indefensible defense.
“We’re hitting a wall right now. It’s definitely not who we are at our best,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “It’s tough to go out there and defensively we have these mistakes that we’re making. That’s not us. We’ve got to do a better job locking in from the start.”
Caris LeVert had a team-high 22 points and Nik Stauskas added 15 of his 21 in the fourth quarter. But the Nets, focused on the two big men they still couldn’t stop, allowed 53.3 percent shooting. The Pelicans also went 17-of-33 from 3-point range.
They say styles make fights, but size plays a role, too. Watching Hollis-Jefferson give up 4 inches and 56 pounds to Cousins at power forward was like Floyd Mayweather trying to take on Wladimir Klitschko, or a receiver blocking a defensive end.
A 16-2 first-quarter run gave the Pelicans a 26-13 lead. It was still a manageable 31-23 deficit for the Nets at the end of the first quarter, but they couldn’t keep it close.
The Nets surrendered a 20-6 run to open the second quarter, letting New Orleans shoot 13-of-21. An eight-point deficit swelled to 23 at the break, and just ballooned from there.
By the time Cousins scored on a tip-in, the Nets trailed 91-58 with 3:15 left in the third. They closed the third by scoring the last 15 points of the period against New Orleans’ bench. But the Pelicans’ starters came back in to open the fourth, and answered with a 15-5 run.
“When their starters came back they punched us in the mouth again,” Stauskas said. “It started on the defensive end. We weren’t locked in, too many missed coverages. They didn’t feel us all game; 128 points, they pretty much just got whatever they wanted.”
By the time Cousins scored on a tip-in, the Nets trailed 91-58 with 3:15 left in the third. They never got closer than 91-77 on a floater by LeVert.