The New Orleans Pelicans picked up a big win on Saturday night, bringing their record to 16-42 and pushing, if just for a moment, the Brooklyn Nets to the third-worst record in the league at 15-40. And again, they’re not even tanking! Unfortunately for Adam Silver’s pariahs, the true tanking teams, matching the ineptitude of the Sacramento Kings and their 16-game losing streak may be an impossible task.
On Sunday afternoon, the Brooklyn Nets weren’t favorites, but they had an honest chance to pick up a road win against the Atlanta Hawks. Nic Claxton returned from a two-game absence, giving the Nets a clean injury report and 48 minutes of legitimate big man play; Ochai Agbaji would no longer have to moonlight as the team’s backup five. The Nets were also due to make some shots. In their first two games after All-Star Weekend, they shot a gross 23.3% from deep.
The struggles from deep continued early on, but the Nets battled nonetheless. Nic Claxton scored 11 points in the first half as Brooklyn made 61% of their twos, taking advantage of an Atlanta defense that was decidedly not Oklahoma City. Drake Powell didn’t put up a monster statline (7/1/1), but between a step-back three, a couple tough dimes, and this driving layup…
…he flashed enough to keep Nets fans coming back for more.
Brooklyn trailed 60-56 at halftime, the Hawks sustained by offensive rebounding and Jock Landale’s 17-point explosion. You may recall January 11, when Landale — then on the Memphis Grizzlies — had a fantastic game to help Brooklyn secure an unlikely tanking loss. Could he do it again and become a folk hero?
Not exactly. Landale scored just two points in the second half while Day’Ron Sharpe got the best of him on the glass, and Brooklyn’s bench finally put an end to the see-sawing. Terance Mann hit a couple 3-pointers, Ochai Agbaji had his best stretch as a Net, and Danny Wolf put up 5/4/4 with one turnover. Brooklyn shot 9-of-22 from deep after halftime, and the Nets built a double-digit lead as crunch time loomed.
A win wouldn’t be too devastating to the tank. Brooklyn’s upcoming schedule is tough, and the rookies played fairly well on Sunday. Egor Dëmin put up 13/1/4, hitting a couple threes and even taking Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the rack…
Turns out Nets fans could have it all. Brooklyn took a 102-91 lead with eight minutes left and scored two points the rest of the way. They didn’t just blow a lead; the Hawks won comfortably.
Michael Porter Jr. threw shots off the backboard, shooting 1-of-8 from deep and looking nothing like the sniper who had an All-Star case just a month ago. (Somehow, Porter Jr. is now 8-of-49 from three in February.) Nolan Traore was the least impressive rookie on the day, shooting 4-of-14 with five assists and five turnovers, coughing it up three times in the fourth quarter.
Jordi Fernández, composed following such a collapse, had this to say about Traore: “You go through the experience, and you learn. Some of the rushed shots and turnovers, you gotta learn how to be composed. You gotta learn how to put everybody in place and take good shots. We just didn’t. So next game it is.”
On the other side, Atlanta’s All-Star, Jalen Johnson, took over. He scored 14 points in the final frame, finishing with 26/12/4. CJ McCollum hit two back-breaking threes, and that was all the Hawks needed to flip the game on its head.
Said Fernández: “I wanted to bring the starters back, because otherwise I’m just leaving the bench in too long … I expect a lot more from the whole starting group.”
It was a blur. If Brooklyn wasn’t 15-41, it would’ve been a shocking ending to an otherwise promising game. But they are. How much of it is blatant tanking, and how much of it is the Brooklyn Nets simply being a bad basketball team?
Sunday afternoon blurred the lines.
“It’s tough, because wins in the NBA matter and you have to play to compete and play to win and it didn’t happen.” — Jordi Fernández
Final Score: Atlanta Hawks 115, Brooklyn Nets 104
Milestone Watch
- All five of Brooklyn’s starters (Porter Jr., Clowney, Claxton, Dëmin, Traore) scored in double-digits. It was the fourth time the Nets did so this season, the first since 1/19 vs. Phoenix.
Race to the Bottom
Here are the standings (in reverse order) after Sunday’s loss, courtesy of Tankathon.
That’s the stuff right there.
Next Up
The Brooklyn Nets return home to face the Dallas Mavericks, who will likely be missing Cooper Flagg due to injury. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening from Barclays Center.