The Nets started the second half of the season with their worst loss in years.
And it coincided with the worst collapse in a generation.
Against the Clippers on Sunday, the Nets took an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter and surrendered the final 22 points in an embarrassing implosion.
This tied for the largest game completion on record since play-by-play data was first tracked in 1997-1998.
“It's very disappointing,” Dennis Smith Jr. said. “Disappointing. We played a good game. We blew it.”
The Nets dominated everyone from players to coaches.
In that horrific final game, the players missed nine consecutive shots due to turnovers.
The coaches didn't seem to prepare them for the tactical changes the Clippers made.
Despite the simple adjustments, coach Jacques Vaughan's team remained stumped.
These are the vibes they'll bring to Tuesday's matchup with the Knicks, a visiting rival across the river who's as hot as the Nets are cold.
“We have to be consistent,” Cam Thomas said. “We've been in a bit of a tough spot for a while now.
“If we play the way we play, we can compete with anyone. So you think we need to step up another notch because we're 17 to 25 years old. “We need to step up another notch and try to win. It's just going to build up, because it's the midway point of the season, the season is coming to an end, so we've got to go up and down and get some wins under our belt. ”
The Nets fell headlong not just out of the Eastern Conference playoffs, but out of the play-in range as well.
They have lost 15 of their last 19 games and are one game behind Atlanta in the final play-in.
But nothing could be more disgusting than Sunday.
Their weaknesses were exposed on the floor and on the sideline, where they were outplayed and outplayed by the Clippers.
“It's all part of the journey. It's not going to be perfect. We've taken some losses, but… [this] That's just part of the journey. Of course, that's a hard “L”. Our organization, we hate losing,” said Nick Claxton. “It's definitely going to leave a bad taste in my mouth. But like I said, we have to learn from this incident as a team, as a unit and be ready to go back home and get some wins.” No need.”
They will have every chance.
But the Nets will have to hope home-cooked meals can pull them out of their funk.
The Nets broke a five-game homestand on Tuesday and will play 10 of their next 11 games at the Barclays Center friendly venue.
One-road games don't require airplanes. Located just a short drive down the New Jersey Turnpike in Philadelphia.
This is a great opportunity.
But are they good enough to take advantage of it?
“With the big homestand coming up, things are definitely heading in the right direction. [Sunday] We played well for the majority of the game, but obviously we have to play the same way for 48 minutes,” Claxton said. “And that is our challenge.”
The Nets have many challenges.
As soon as the Clippers went small and started switching on, the Nets lost any semblance of ball movement or pace.
To make matters worse, they seemed shocked by the tactics, which were far from shocking.
“Well, we have to know when to adjust and how to adjust. And just play the game. The whole game,” Mikal Bridges said.
“[The Clippers] It got smaller and everything turned red. Then we were stuck and didn't know what to do…we didn't know how to break out of it. ”
Admittedly, the Knicks are unlikely to field a small lineup on Tuesday. But that hardly matters.
It's a damning indictment that the Nets started the second half of the season completely flummoxed, given five and a half minutes to adjust despite two timeouts and a veteran team.
The Nets were a switching team all last season.
They had red-ringed frequently the previous year and have primarily used a small lineup since Vaughn took over.
The concept is simple and approachable.
But throughout the season, they couldn't figure out how to deal with them.
“The switch was kind of like kryptonite for us,” Claxton admitted. “It's definitely hurt us so far in the season. It's just forced us to play slow. [hunt] Instead of maintaining that flow, mismatches occurred and they became aggressive. ”
