ORLANDO, Fla. — Four-fifths of the way through the season and the Nets are still here talking about the same things.
Lack of energy. Folding when shots won’t go down.
And humbling losses.
AP
This one a 114-106 defeat in to the Magic before a crowd of 18,846 at Kia Center on Wednesday, a gane in which the final scoreline flattered them. It wasn’t even that close.
Brooklyn (26-40) came out and spotted Orlando a double-digit lead just three minutes in, trailed by as many as 18 and capitulated utterly.
What went wrong?
Ask Nic Claxton that question, and he responds with a long pregnant pause and a grimace that couldn’t hide the truth.
“The same thing that’s been going on just this last stretch: We didn’t make shots and our energy just wasn’t where it needed to be,” said Claxton, an answer that is becoming increasingly vexing this deep into the season.
“It’s frustrating, man. It’s not easy. It’s frustrating. Nobody likes losing, like I always say. But we’ve just got to get ready for Indiana.”
The Nets still have the Pacers and Spurs on this season-long six-game trek away from home. But none of their recent ugly losses has lit a fire under them. One has to wonder if there’s anything there left to burn.
Cam Thomas had 21 points and a career-high tying eight boards, and Mikal Bridges added 17. But the Nets made just 7 of 26 from deep, and let those missed shots take the starch out of their defense.
Paolo Banchero had 21 points and nine assists to lead seven Magic players in double figures. Despite the return of Cam Johnson, Brooklyn allowed 51.9 percent shooting — including 61.5 percent in the first half with 8 of 14 from deep.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Johnson said. “It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to be a part of. It’s frustrating to watch. And there have been times where we’ve cleaned it up but we just need to be more consistent and just got to be consistent with our effort, our energy, and just have the unselfish spirits about us.”
They even got a little comical help from the Magic (38-28), with Jonathan Isaac actually tipping the ball in the Nets’ basket for them.
That made it 80-67 with 5:22 left in the third. Jalen Wilson got the credit — but plenty of Nets had to take some blame Wednesday.
The Nets temporarily fell four games behind Atlanta for the final play-in spot in the East — five in the loss column. The Hawks played Wednesday night in Portland.
“They just were playing harder than us, more physical than us. We weren’t helping each other on the defensive end with a guy, with low mans and stuff like that. [Not] making shots [doesn’t] help, but they were just more physical than us,” Bridges said. “That’s something that we kind of got to get over, get over that hump of not letting making shots control our energy.”
Brooklyn’s effort has been wildly inconsistent of late. They allowed a 12-2 blitz right out of the gate, capped by a Wendell Carter Jr. dunk.
Down 36-19 after abysmal defense, Brooklyn finally tried to answer, reeling off seven unanswered. Thomas found Johnson for a 3-pointer to pull the Nets within 10.
But they couldn’t build on that momentum. A Bridges eurostep got blocked by Carter, and it led to a Gary Harris fast break the other way and 54-38 deficit.
Another Harris layup pushed it to 56-38 with 4:34 left in the half.
The Nets did respond with a 16-3 run, briefly pulling within five. A Thomas 3 made it 59-54 with 33 seconds remaining in the half. But that’s as close as they got.
The Nets let Orlando pull away again. Claxton dunked but got a silly technical that Franz Wagner converted. That made it 70-61, and the momentum was gone. Brooklyn never challenged the rest of the night.
“Everybody just has to look themself in the mirror and bring it. It’s on everybody. It’s our job, it’s not on the coaches,” Claxton said. “It’s on the players for us to go out and just bring it every single night, regardless of what’s going on out there.”
