NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets have not had the kind of start to this season that they were hoping for when they were saying that they would play better than many expected. Brooklyn has an 0-5 record heading into Sunday's game at the Indiana Pacers and after Friday's 110-94 NBA Cup loss to the Detroit Pistons, two of the veterans gave their thoughts on what needs to change.
"It's easier said than done in the NBA. When you lose five games straight, it can be tough. But, I think we gotta continue to watch film and do our best to stay connected as a group, do our best to stay positive," Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. said after Friday's loss to the Pistons. Brooklyn has been saying the right things amidst this winless start to the season, but at some
point, the rubber needs to meet the road, so to speak.
"[We gotta] do our best to come out next game and do better than we did this game. I think we took a step forward in the Boston game, [but took] a couple steps backwards tonight. We just got to watch it [the film] and go from there," Porter continued. The Nets put up a good fight against Detroit in the first quarter as they carried a 28-21 lead into the second quarter, but everything went downhill from there.
From the second quarter on, the Pistons outscored the Nets by 23 points and Brooklyn proceeded to shoot just 38.0% from the field and commit 19 turnovers. As Porter alluded to, once Detroit started to cut into the Nets' lead and pull away in the second half, most of the players that took the court for Brooklyn had poor body language and it seemed to affect their effort as well. Forward Julius Randle gave his own take on the team's recent struggles.
"I feel like we're having trouble sustaining good basketball. [We] start off the first quarter great, and then lose the second quarter by 14," Randle said. "The majority of that, I feel like came in the last two or three minutes of the second quarter, and then it just kind of spiraled. So, we have to be better at answering adversity. Basketball is a game of runs. You're going to get punched in the face, but we have to be better at how we respond."
The Nets began this season with a tough schedule as they had to face the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Pistons within their first five games, but the team also had winnable games against the Charlotte Hornets and Pacers. At this point, Brooklyn has had some encouraging performances, but some of these losses have to turn into victories if the team's morale is going to improve anytime soon.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Michael Porter Jr., Julius Randle discuss what Nets need to change
