The Nets opened the second half of the season by taking a wire-to-wire beating almost as bad as any they took in the first.
Brooklyn got crushed, 112-84, by Cleveland before 19,432 at Rocket Arena.
Trailing from sloppy start to embarrassing finish, Brooklyn was down by as much as 43 and never looked even moderately competitive.
This wasn’t just about the white-hot Cavaliers being better (which they are).
Or Brooklyn’s youngsters hitting the rookie wall (which they might be).
It was about the Nets showing a galling lack of mental intensity or defensive discipline.
Brooklyn got carved up in the paint by Cleveland’s interior passing, led by ex-Net James Harden (16 points, nine assists, five rebounds) and Donovan Mitchell (game-high 17 points).
Their incessant mental lapses gave the Cavaliers whatever they wanted, allowing 64.3 percent shooting in the first half and 57.1 from deep.
The Nets shot just 34.5 percent on the night and 14-of-49 from behind the arc.
Michael Porter Jr. led them with a mere 14 points, just 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
Ochai Agbaji, acquired at the trade deadline, had 13.
It was a beating from beginning to end, with Brooklyn down 101-59 after ex-Net Dennis Schröder’s free throws with 1:09 left in the third quarter.
The fourth was never close.
It was the eighth wire-to-wire loss for Brooklyn, with no other team in the league having suffered more than five.
The silver lining was better lottery positioning.
The Nets moved into a tie for fourth in the lottery standings, even with Washington after the Wizards beat the Pacers. Brooklyn is just a game behind Indiana and New Orleans, tied for second.
The Nets were flat from the start.
Going down 4-0, Jordi Fernández immediately called a timeout.
It didn’t help and watched his team let Evan Mobley — back after missing seven straight games with a calf injury — run right down the lane on a fast break.
The Nets coughed up the first eight points of the game and let the Cavs hit their first six shots.
Brooklyn started 3-of-18 from 3-point range and got routed.
Down just nine, they allowed an 11-2 run to double that deficit, falling beyond 34-16.
The deficit reached 43, with Egor Dёmin (10 points, five rebounds) showing the only spunk after he got under Larry Nance Jr.’s skin, boxing him out late.
The Cavs vet threw him to the ground and got a technical, losing his cool.
Otherwise, Brooklyn displayed too little spunk.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
