DALLAS — The Nets knew exactly what kind of opportunity they squandered Saturday, clearly realizing how much ground they left on the board when catching the Hawks amid the tail end of a back-to-back.
The next night in Dallas, the Nets labored in leaden shoes, and the result matched every concern, as the squad was routed 130-93 before 19,184 fans at American Airlines Center.
Looking sluggish and expended, the Nets were dismantled on defense. They never held a lead, fell behind by 37 and remained noncompetitive for most of the night.
“It’s control the controllables. If you play extremely hard and make mistakes, you’re allowed to make mistakes; but when those mistakes are for not giving everything that you have physically and attention, that’s tough,” head coach Jordi Fernández said beforehand. “We cannot all be like, ‘Oh, my fault,’ and then have 12 ‘my faults’ or 10 ‘my faults.’ So we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to grow. I’m the first one that I’ve got to own my mistakes too. And just get better and grow as a team.”
They witnessed Cooper Flagg dominate statistics with 25 points, 12 assists and five rebounds while former Net Kyrie Irving contributed 21 points in his comeback against his former team.
Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 19 points and nine boards, but Julius Randle struggled with just 13 and finished with a minus-33 from his 40% shooting.
This team lacked the consistency to secure a victory with Randle’s performance, as Dallas allowed an astonishing 57.1 percent shooting margin and refused to mount any real comeback.
The Nets had entered from a 17-point cushion, including a four-point advantage with just 1:45 remaining on the clock, only to concede 10 unanswered points as the Hawks executed a decisive 14-7 rally.
Fernández expressed hope that the team could replicate its energy from the previous night, but the outcome suggested exhaustion set in.
“I want to see that this is a team ready to fight for 48 minutes,” Fernández had said beforehand. “While we had some strong moments Saturday night, we failed to sustain the offensive energy throughout the game.”
“So, we need stronger effort. And sometimes also when there are tough moments and disconnection, that’s when energy tends to drain. We must overcome these hurdles together with renewed vigor and focus. The group performs exceptionally well in daily routines, communicates effectively, and works cohesively. Now we are prepared to deliver on the full 48-minute contest.”
That expectation was not met. The Nets managed barely four minutes of cohesive performance or eight minutes total, shooting a poor 38.8 percent overall and just 11-out-of-39 from three-point range.
Brooklyn trailed by 13 early in the first quarter, a deficit that grew to 26 in the second half’s sluggish execution.
During a turnover late in the first quarter, Randle handed the ball back to the Mavericks with 1 minute and 48 seconds remaining, after which he slammed the ball onto the floor in frustration.
The defining sequence of the evening featured Noah Clowney receiving a foul on Morez Johnson Jr. near the third quarter mark, leading to a video review that confirmed a technical foul was incorrectly assessed for the forward. Johnson had deliberately struck Clowney earlier, prompting the penalty.
Subsequent scoring saw Moritz Wagner succeed on an easy free throw with the Nets trailing 92-62.
Clowney eventually fouled out in the ensuing play, effectively sealing the defeat.
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