Nets blow late lead to Pelicans as losing streak hits five…
The Pelicans are the worst team in the NBA. But the Nets had been the worse team Wednesday.
Brooklyn blew a 12-point lead — and an eight-point fourth-quarter cushion — to fall 116-113 before a crowd of 16,201 at Smoothie King Center.
After playing properly last month, the Nets (11-27) have struggled since the calendar flipped. Brooklyn has the longest losing skid in the league at five straight, and has now dropped eight of their past 9.
The Nets (11-27) sit fifth in the lottery standings. They had been just a game behind fourth-place Washington pending the Wizards tilt against the Clippers later Wednesday evening, and two games clear of idle sixth-place Charlotte.
Pelicans ahead Zion Williamson (1) blocks Michael Porter Jr.’s (17) shot during the first half of the Nets’ 116-113 street loss to the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center IMAGN IMAGES by way of Reuters Connect
Brooklyn led 110-107 after rookie Egor Dëmin’s lengthy 3-pointer with 1:28 left. But they allowed seven unanswered factors and never led again.
The Nets trailed by three in the final seconds and botched the last-ditch play. Michael Porter Jr. — who led the Nets with 20 factors — missed a 34-footer.
Trey Murphy III had a game-high 34 factors and Zion Williamson added 25. The Pelicans have signaled they plan to maintain onto each.
New Orleans (10-33) had misplaced 11 of 12 and got here in with the worst file in the league, however don’t even have the silver lining of getting the best lottery odds. They owe their first-round decide to Atlanta after last yr’s surprising draft-night commerce once they moved up ten locations to take Derik Queen.
The Nets held Queen off the scoreboard until 1:50 left in the third, and to 4 factors on 0-for-4 taking pictures. But the Nets still misplaced.
With the game knotted at 105-105, rookie Drake Powell acquired fouled and hit two of three at the charity stripe to put the Nets ahead by a deuce. Murphy tied it, however Dëmin untied it with a clutch go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:28 to play.
But Saddiq Bey evened it on a 3-pointer of his personal with a minute left, then — after Dëmin defended Murphy right into a missed 3-pointer — the Nets let Bey beat them for an offensive rebound and go-ahead putback with 21 seconds left in regulation.
The Nets acquired the precise shot they’d’ve needed, a clear Porter look. But he missed a nook 3-pointer, and the Nets never led.
Egor Dëmin (8) brings the ball up courtroom against Trey Murphy III (25) during the first half of the Nets’ street loss to the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
A Drake Powell 3-pointer acquired them within one with 5 seconds left. And down three after two Bey foul pictures, and no timeouts left, the Nets botched a final possession once they practically threw the ball away to Karlo Matkovic and had to accept a desperation 34-foot heave by Porter that had little likelihood.
After the Nets had value themselves with slow begins in the past few games, this time they got here out centered. Brooklyn raced out of the blocks to go ahead 16-6 on a Powell basket.
The lead reached a dozen once they doubled up New Orleans 24-12 after Dëmin’s contact go to Nic Claxton with 5:44 left in the first quarter.
But it was knotted at 87-87 going into what turned out to be a dramatic fourth.
Day’Ron Sharpe rebounded a Bey miss, and dunked off a Terance Mann feed. Then after Queen missed a pair of pictures in shut, Mann stole the ball from him and drilled a 3-pointer to put Brooklyn up by five.
Following a Williamson turnover, Cam Thomas cleared out and acquired by Bey to the rim for a scoop and a 94-87 lead with 10:10 to play.
Danny Wolf hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the key to cap a 10-2 run and pad the lead again to 97-89. But the Nets couldn’t maintain it.
Wolf fouled out and the Nets allowed a 16-4 run to quit the lead altogether.
Murphy’s 3-pointer put New Orleans ahead 103-101. And after Yves Missi outfought Claxton for an offensive rebound and putback, the Nets discovered themselves in a four-point gap.
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