Well, that one will sting.
For nearly 47 minutes, the Brooklyn Nets controlled the game against the Atlanta Hawks Saturday night in Georgia. After building a 17-point lead in the first quarter, it wasn’t always pretty, but the Nets didn’t trail until the final two minutes.
However, they couldn’t put it away when it mattered most and fell to Atlanta, 124-121. There were some positives, most notably the late-game heroics from Mikel Brown Jr., which kept them in the game. But ultimately, none of it changes
the result, and Brooklyn is now 2-7, still struggling to close out matchups down the stretch.
Brooklyn couldn’t have asked for a much better start. They came out firing, putting up 37 first-quarter points to take a 37-27 lead. The Nets shot 73.7% from the field (14-of-19), including 6-of-10 from three.
The ball movement was also on full display early, dishing out 11 assists on 14 made baskets. Eight different players found the scoring column, with the Nets building a lead as large as 17 before Atlanta started to chip away at the end of the frame.
Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy for the rest of the game. By the end of the first, you could already feel Atlanta gaining some ground after an ugly first few minutes. In the second quarter, they trimmed their deficit to just four, at 70-66 entering the break. Turnovers became a big issue for the Nets, allowing the Hawks to stay in the game.
The Nets committed 11 turnovers in the first half, which gave the Hawks 15 points. Brooklyn also got dominated in the paint, allowing a whopping 42 points on the inside compared to their 22. Atlanta put up 39 paint points in the second quarter alone.
Despite the turnovers, the Nets still scored at a high level. Michael Porter Jr. had 18 in the first half, while Nolan Traoré continued his excellent start to the season with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Day’Ron Sharpe also thrived as a facilitator, logging eight assists in the first half. He set a career high with eight assists on Wednesday, and that number rose to 13 on Saturday, when he also came away with his first triple-double, logging 12 points and 10 rebounds. All positive, but…
The crazy part is that the Nets shot 65.7% from the field and 50% from three in the first half, yet still had just a four-point lead. When you turn the. ball over that many times, that’s what happens.
The Nets started to settle things down coming out of the locker room, though. They won the third quarter, 25-22, to take a 95-88 lead heading into the final frame. While the same level of offensive efficiency wasn’t there, Brooklyn’s defense became more consistent and prevented the Hawks from carrying their momentum into the second half.
The turnover issues remained prevalent for the Nets, as the total reached 16 through three quarters. However, they limited the damage on the defensive end. Jordi Fernández clearly made adjustments coming out of halftime, and those adjustments played a key role in Brooklyn retaining their lead.
Despite struggling offensively through the first three quarters and missing his first seven shots, Mikel Brown Jr. came up clutch in the fourth quarter with three huge shots from deep. After entering the final quarter with just five points, he finished with 18.
However, Fernandez decided against playing his two 20-year-olds together. While Brown Jr. was leading the charge, Traore sat on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. Was it defense or does the head coach have a problem playing the two together? No matter what the young Nets couldn’t finish.
While the game was back-and-forth throughout, the Nets didn’t give up their first lead until there was 1:26 left in the fourth quarter. The game hadn’t even been tied; Brooklyn led the entire time until then. After that, though, the Nets failed to score another point and fell 124-121.
Saturday was a disappointing loss for the Nets. Going from up 17 and not down once to losing in the final two minutes is rough, and yet another example that Brooklyn’s young core is still developing and learning how to win games. The turnovers also continued to hurt them, as they committed six more in the final frame.
The encouraging element, of course, is Brown Jr.’s strong play, especially down the stretch. It’s the second time he’s really risen to the occasion in big moments, with last week’s loss to the Boston Celtics as another example before his rookie blunder cost them in overtime.
Final Score: Brooklyn Nets, 121, Atlanta Hawks, 124
Next Up
The Nets will have a quick turnaround, heading to Dallas on Sunday to face the Mavericks in the second leg of their back-to-back. Dallas enters the matchup at 5-4, coming off a 112-100 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday.
After letting a golden opportunity slip away against Atlanta, the Nets will look to get back in the win column on Sunday. The question becomes: can Brooklyn put together a complete 48-minute performance to secure the victory? That’s what they’ve struggled to do most consistently this season.
- Boxscore: Brooklyn Nets, 121, Atlanta Hawks, 124
