The Nets faced challenges against Cooper Flagg and, frankly, their own shooting woes on Monday.
In front of a crowd of 18,632 at the American Airlines Center, the Nets fell to Dallas, marking their fourth consecutive loss, with a final score of 113-105. This defeat had implications for the lottery standings, which really brought home how pivotal the lottery can be.
Michael Porter Jr. made a notable return from rest the night before, leading all scorers with 28 points on 6-of-10 shooting along with nine rebounds. Still, the team’s offensive performance was lackluster; no other player scored more than 14 points, and they managed to hit only 9 of 37 attempts from beyond the arc.
Conversely, Flagg, the top pick from last year’s lottery picked by the Mavericks, had a solid game with 27 points, five assists, and five rebounds. Despite the Nets’ efforts to double-team him, Flagg capitalized on those situations more than once.
At one point, the Nets trailed by only three points, down 96-93, but they later faltered against the Mavericks, who were missing key players like Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Derek Lively II.
With their record at 11-26, the Nets currently sit fifth in the lottery standings, trailing Washington by 1.5 games and two games behind both Utah and Charlotte, while being 2.5 games behind the Mavericks after this loss.
Dayron Sharpe had a standout performance with 14 points and 12 rebounds, significantly taking advantage of Dallas’s lack of depth inside. He recorded a double-double in just over 10 minutes of first-half play, the fastest this season and the quickest for a Net since Andre Drummond did it in April 2022.
Unfortunately, the rest of Sharpe’s teammates didn’t take his cue right away, shooting a dismal 1-for-16 from deep and looking somewhat hesitant.
Missing from the lineup were Egor Demin (left plantar fascia), Cam Thomas (left hamstring), and Giare Williams (illness).
The Nets started off poorly, allowing Flagg’s layup for an early 20-11 deficit.
Despite trailing 43-30 at one point, the Nets began to claw back, sinking consecutive threes to narrow it to a seven-point gap.
However, stopping Flagg proved to be problematic without committing to double-teams. Every time a second defender came in, the rookie found ways to exploit it with quick decision-making.
Flagg executed a stunning one-legged shot reminiscent of Dirk Nowitzki and followed that up by blocking Terrence Mann during the Nets’ next possession. He also scored 12 points in the last seven and a half minutes of the first half.
When down 63-49, the Nets responded with a nine-point run, with Porter’s mid-range jumper cutting the deficit to five.
They managed to stay close, even cutting it down to three points, but rookie Nolan Traore scored off an assist from Noah Clowney, edging the game to 93-90 with 6:35 left.
Claxton scored to narrow it to 105-100, but Flagg, known for his clutch scoring, struck back immediately with a steal that led to a fast-break dunk, followed by a 3-pointer that widened the gap to 112-102 with just 1:32 remaining.
