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Nets in danger of falling out of playoff race after fifth straight loss

 


The Brooklyn Nets are falling fast. Jacque Vaughn is pushing all the wrong buttons as leading scorers Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges are both mired in shooting slumps.

Brooklyn's 3-point shooting has gone down the tubes and its perimeter defense is nowhere to be found.

The answers may not be on this roster although the absence of Lonnie Walker IV and Ben Simmons has not helped the team's cause.

To make matters worse, the team the Nets lost to 112-101 on Wednesday night, the Houston Rockets, will hold the Nets lottery pick if Brooklyn continues on this downward spiral.

Sean Marks is at a franchise crossroads. Does he make a fifth coaching change of his tenure that started in 2016?

Does he build around Bridges and Thomas or decide to blow up the current core and build from the ground up?

All the answers will come into view later this month as the trade deadline draws near.

For the time being, the Nets are playing an unwatchable brand of basketball over the past two weeks and if things don't change in a hurry, there could be massive changes coming to Brooklyn. 

Nets lose by season-high 37 to Pelicans

 


There's no sleep in Brooklyn for Jacque Vaughn as his seat is getting hotter with each passing day and as the losses pile up.

The Nets are now 3-10 over their last 13 games and another heartless effort on Tuesday created more turmoil in Nets World.

Brooklyn had an off shooting night at 25.6 percent from 3-point range and 35.7 percent from the field.

Cam Thomas was scoreless twenty minutes, which is astonishing for such a good bucket getter. Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, and Day'Ron Sharpe were the only players in double figures. 

The Nets play Houston on Wednesday night and look to right a sinking ship. 

Nets reach new low point after loss to lowly Wizards



 Jacque Vaughn made some tweaks to the Nets starting lineup on Friday night by sending Cam Thomas to the bench and Dorian Finney-Smith to the first five.

That move backfired as Brooklyn lost 110-104 to Washington (6-25). 

It's been a tumultuous week for Brooklyn as it rested its starters on Wednesday against Milwaukee only to lose to one of the NBA's worst teams in the Washington Wizards on Friday night. 

It's almost as though the basketball gods were looking down on the Nets in contempt for resting young and healthy players. 

Mikal Bridges was not exactly pleased with the decision by the coaching staff in front office to rest him as it only allowed him to play the first 12 minutes of Wednesday night's contest. 


Now, Cam Thomas has been relegated to the bench, which could continue to create a divide between him, Vaughn and the organization.

The Nets are not exactly sitting pretty in the East and they are falling fast. 

With a trip to the Midwest including stops in: Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and Houston. The road from here won't get any easier.

Vaughn may want to consider reshuffling his starting lineup once again, as sending Thomas to the bench didn't exactly have the positive impact the coach intended. 


Nets should be ashamed for punting on Milwaukee game



 Load management is alive and well in the NBA. On Wednesday night, the Nets sat the majority of their starters, while Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges played just 12 minutes.

The Nets were in a dogfight with Milwaukee in the second half, but the organization called off the dogs before the game by sitting its best players.

This is an alarming trend in the NBA that was supposed to be curbed by stricter enforcement by the league and the addition of the In-Season Tournament.

The Nets, who will be fighting for a play-in position or possibly the sixth seed, can ill afford to just give away regular season games.

As for the fans that spent their hard earned money during the holidays to see their favorite Nets players take the court, it's a bad look public relations-wise.

The Nets organization has a lot of questions to answer to the fans and media.

If the league is serious about limiting load management, a fine could be incoming for Brooklyn. 

Nets snap losing streak by keeping Pistons historic skid intact




 The Brooklyn Nets breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday night at Barclays Center as they outlasted a reeling Detroit Pistons squad 126-115.

The Nets had lost five straight heading in to last night's contest while Detroit had lost 25 straight and was looking to avoid tying the longest losing streak in one season in NBA history.

Brooklyn dealt Detroit its 26 straight defeat, tying the 2010-11 Cavaliers and 2013-14 76ers.

Mikal Bridges led the Nets with 29 and Cam Thomas added 20.  Jaden Ivey paced the Pistons with 23 and Cade Cunningham had 22.

The Nets and Pistons tangle again on Tuesday in the second half of a back to back. Another loss would set the record for Detroit and the Nets are hoping they can keep their winning streak and in turn the Pistons losing streak alive. 

Nets late game blunder dooms upset bid of defending champ Nuggets




Cam Thomas giveth and Cam Thomas taketh away. That was the story in Brooklyn as the 22-year old youngster showed just how promising he can be. But his inexperience showed in the worst way down the stretch.

After Thomas hit a miraculous 4-point play inside of 20 seconds to narrow the Nuggets lead to 115-114, all hell broke loose. 

Jamal Murray hit the front end of his free throws on the ensuing Denver possession, then he clanged the second attempt off the iron, but Thomas didn't block out the shooter and Murray snagged the rebound.

The Nets waived goodbye to a potential game winning scenario as Thomas' mistake cost his team dearly.
 
Mikal Bridges had another rough night as he shot 7 of 16 for 14 points, but missed all three of his 3-point attempts.

Thomas led the way with 23, but
Brooklyn has now lost five straight and will welcome Detroit in for a back to back starting Saturday at Barclays.

The Pistons are currently mired in a 25-game losing streak and are only three losses from tying a league record. The Nets need a win in the worst way and they don't want to be on the wrong side of history when they take on Detroit. 

Knicks down Nets as Bridges has historically woeful shooting night



The normally friendly confines of Barclays Center was a house of horrors for Mikal Bridges, who shot 4 of 21 from the field, including 1 of 8 from 3pt range in a 19 point drubbing at the hands of the Knicks on Wednesday night.

Brooklyn shot just 36.6 percent as a team with Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson leading the way with 20 each.

The Knicks led by as many as 25 as the club from MSG saw Julius Randle tally 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Donte DiVincenzo 23 while Josh Hart had 10 points and 13 rebounds. 

Jalen Brunson was a terrific tablesetter with 16 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds as the defensively challenged Nets couldn't overcome a poor shooting night.

Despite the Nets having won 8 of the last 10 matchups with the Knicks and Wednesday marking New York's first win at Barclays Center in four years, it does appear that the pendulum is swinging away from Brooklyn in the Intercity rivalry. 

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