NEW ORLEANS — This wasn't a fight.
This turned the Nets around.
Even when they were beaten, they didn't mind fighting back.
Brooklyn humiliated the Pelicans 112-85 on Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Center before being outscored by 16,253 points and getting gutted wire-to-wire.
And the most embarrassing part of this loss was how quickly and easily the Nets quit.
“We just have to keep our heads up. When you get into a difficult situation, you can't just give up. If they score, it should give us more momentum, but that seems to be missing. “I felt like that,” Mikal Bridges said. “I have to be more vocal as a leader and as a player and try my best to lead this team. But I felt like I did a bad job.
“We got punched in the mouth and we just sat there. We didn't move forward after that. And that's on the players. That's how it goes. They might get away… We must take responsibility for ourselves to stand up and fight, not just lie down.
“Like I said, I personally have to do better by being more vocal, being more physical and being on both sides. I can't just give up.”
The Nets (15-19) have lost four straight and nine of their last 11 games.
They haven't beaten any team other than the historically dreadful Pistons since Dec. 13.
But of all these losses, Tuesday's may have been the most concerning.
It was a loss, and they were down by 13 points in the first three and a half minutes, but from there they quickly surrendered and there was no fight to be seen.
Brooklyn trailed by 27 points in the second quarter and 32 points in the third.
“I told the group, and for me, that's how we reacted. I was very concerned about how we responded. We were a team that could step up to the challenge,” the coach said. Jack Vaughn said.
“It's just like a boxing match. How do you react when you get hit? … Now they're longer and stronger, so you have the will to get it done and do your part.” , the will to step outside of yourself is there. And if you get really desperate about when to jump on the floor, you're going to go through it all and go home with cuts and bruises and hurt.
“We're not there yet. It's that simple.”
Cam Johnson had 17 points and Bridges had 13, but the offense was rotten.
Leading scorer Cam Thomas was held scoreless on 0-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Spencer Dinwiddie and Royce O'Neal each went 0-for-6 with no runs scored.
Brooklyn batted .357 overall, but made just 11-of-43 shots from behind the arc.
They are only 39 out of 149 after four games and are sure to be a disaster.
A Nets team that lives or dies by 3-point shooting is doing the latter.
“And a lot of them look good. But it's a game, and I don't think it pays to feel passive. I don't think it pays to not be the aggressor,” Johnson said. Told. “So I think the only way is to turn things around and look at other areas of the game and look at where we can be attackers.
“Instead of just hoping the game turns our way, it's up to us to go back and look and see how just a sense of grit and toughness can get us out. Sometimes you just have to make things happen instead of just playing around and hoping things will happen. So it's a gut check. It's a gut check. This stretch is a gut check.”
Brooklyn stumbled just outside the starting blocks and fell head over heels.
They fell behind 16-3 on Zion Williamson's driving finger roll with just 2:29 left in the game.
The Nets missed six of their first seven shots, falling into a 13-point hole, and things only got worse from there.
New Orleans defensive ace Herb Jones made a 3-pointer to give the Pelicans a 59-32 lead with 2:50 left in the first half.
Brooklyn went into the locker room trailing by 25 points.
CJ McCollum made a 3-pointer to make it 71-38.
The clock showed 8:25 left in the third quarter, but the game was over and the Nets went on to play Houston to face the Rockets on Wednesday.
