No D means no W for freefalling Nets

Brooklyn enters All-Star break on season-high seven-game slide

February 15, 2018 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Spencer Dinwiddie and DeMare Carroll will get a much-needed week off after the struggling Nets limped into the All-Star break on a season-high seven-game losing streak. AP Photo by Mary Altaffer

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Just a little more than three weeks ago, the Nets seemed like a young team on the rise that could threaten to compete for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference if things continued to fall their way.

Now, they’re simply trying to avoid finishing with the NBA’s worst record for a second consecutive season.

Brooklyn stumbled into the All-Star break on a season-high seven-game losing streak following a 108-103 Valentine’s Day loss to the Indiana Pacers in front of 13,159 fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

Allen Crabbe continued his recent scoring surge with a team-high 24 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:09 to play that put the Nets in front, 95-93.

But Brooklyn’s penchant for porous defense and carelessness with the ball reared its ugly head again thereafter, allowing the Pacers to go on a game-deciding 11-2 run that left the Nets to spend the next week lamenting what could have been.

“We couldn’t stop them [in the fourth quarter],” frustrated Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said after his team’s 11th loss in the past 12 games.

“Defense again was our Achilles heel,” he added. “Thirty-five points [in the fourth quarter] is just too many. I just felt like they got too many easy baskets, too many easy looks. There were too many breakdowns.”

Breaking down when it matters most is something Brooklyn has specialized in throughout the campaign.

The Nets (19-40), who were a handful of games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East following back-to-back wins from Jan. 19-21, now own the second-most losses in the league and are only one game ahead of NBA-worst Atlanta and Phoenix (18-41).

Last year, Brooklyn finished 20-62.

“Until we fix up our defense, it’s going to be tough to get a W. That’s the way it is,” Atkinson noted.

The Nets enter the break ranked 25th in the league in points allowed per game at 109.6, including a whopping average of 120 during their last three losses.

More alarmingly, Brooklyn yields an NBA-high 27.4 points per contest in the fourth quarter.

“We keep putting ourselves in a good situation to win and we come up short,” lamented Crabbe, who actually gave the Nets a fighting chance following the Pacers’ late run by draining a 22-footer with 25.3 seconds remaining that cut the deficit to 104-100.

After Cory Joseph missed one of two at the line on Indiana’s ensuing trip, Crabbe accidentally stepped out of bounds for Brooklyn’s 13th and final turnover, extinguishing any hopes of a positive vibe heading into the extended hiatus.

“I think we got the shots we wanted and we missed some. We had some costly turnovers,” Crabbe admitted.

Victor Oladipo poured in a game-high 25 points for Indiana, which completed a four-game season series sweep of the Nets, who won’t be back in action until they visit Charlotte on Feb. 22.

Brooklyn’s defense should get a boost from the post All-Star break return of forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (groin) and guard Caris LeVert (knee). Both injured regulars are expected to be back in the fold when the Nets take on the Hornets.

The team has won just one of 10 games since Hollis-Jefferson suffered his right groin strain while yielding 122.3 points per game in the three contests LeVert has missed.

LeVert believes the duo can help the Nets get back on the winning track next week.

“Absolutely, we hope to bring as much as we can to the table,” LeVert said prior to Wednesday night’s game. “We don’t like missing games and we can’t wait to get back out there and contribute to the team in whatever way we can.”

Though it comes during their worst stretch of the season, the break should help the Nets get healthier and re-energized, something they sorely need following what has transgressed here in Brooklyn over the past three weeks.

“These guys are fried a little bit,” admitted Atkinson.

Nothing But Net: Veteran forward DeMarre Carroll has been thriving during the Nets’ nosedive. The 31-year-old Alabama native and undisputed team leader in the Brooklyn locker room is averaging 14.6 points during the team’s thus-far winless February. He had 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists against the Pacers on Wednesday. “I think I’m only getting better,” said Carroll, who is averaging career bests of 13.8 points and 6.6 rebounds during his first season with the Nets. “Some guys blossom late in their career and I feel like that’s what I’m doing, I’m blossoming late in my career. Because early on I didn’t play that much in my career. So I think now, even my body feels like it’s getting stronger and getting better. That’s a positive for me.” … After visiting Charlotte on Feb. 22, the Nets will play their first home game after the All-Star break on Feb. 26 here vs. Chicago … Spencer Dinwiddie will take part in this weekend’s All-Star festivities in Los Angeles. He will participate in the Skills Competition Saturday night.