Typical of late for the Nets, they fell victim to yet another fourth-quarter collapse Tuesday night against the Knicks, as the team continues to struggle to complete a 48-minute game. This became further evidence.
Brooklyn has led in the final quarter in four of the past five games, including overcoming a 15-point deficit against the Clippers last Sunday.
In Tuesday's 108-103 loss, the Nets held a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but second-chance points from five offensive rebounds by the Knicks helped the Nets sink in the final half. .
“If I had to point out one thing, it would be that [five] That's the offensive rebound we got in the fourth quarter,'' Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said, trying to make sense of the madness of the fourth quarter.
“I think the biggest thing for me is their ability to get second-chance points and put even more pressure on their opponents to get results. Overall, the shots we got, the shots we took all night. I thought it was something I did.
“Unfortunately, we had a little bit of a cold streak in the fourth. But a big part of that was their ability to put pressure on us. [their] offensive rebound. ”
“Yeah, that's part of it,” Mikal Bridges said. “You can't give up offensive rebounds, especially in the crucial fourth,” he said. “So it definitely could be better in that regard. But it's certainly, you know, part of it.”
In two of those four games, the Nets were outrebounded on the offensive glass.
The Nets have remained positive despite losing their 11th game in the last 13. Bridges said he has to find a better way to “handle adversity” as other teams continue to advance.
“We were able to do that at the beginning of the year and we won some games leading up to it.” [the] I finished it, but I kind of lost it. It's tough when you keep losing at the end, right? It lowers your confidence,” he said. “So we had to stay united. We're going to be in that position a lot. We just have to be prepared.”
Cam Johnson is listed as questionable for Thursday night's game against the Timberwolves due to a left shoulder contusion.
He broke out of a slump on Tuesday by making 4 of 6 3-pointers and scoring 19 points.
Dayron Sharpe (left knee hyperextension), Ben Simmons (left lumbar nerve impingement) and Darik Whitehead (left shin stress reaction) will be out Thursday.
