Wednesday was Madison Square Garden. Sunday was Intuit Dome. Different coast, same result.
The Nets lost 126-89 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night, dropping their fifth straight game, falling to 12-32 and continuing a familiar freefall. Brooklyn has now lost 10 of its last 11 games, and after spending December posting the best defensive ratings in the league, the Nets have regressed right back into one of the NBA’s worst teams.
From Wednesday’s disaster to Sunday’s blowout, Brooklyn can’t stop the bleeding. The Nets shot just 33.7% in Inglewood (9-for-43 from 3-point range), turned it over 17 times, and gave up a parade of points at the rim on a night they trailed by as many as 40.
Los Angeles raced out to a 12-2 edge in paint points by the 8:29 mark of the opening quarter, building a 12-5 lead that forced the Nets to burn a full timeout. There was a brief pulse after that. Terance Mann, moments after a video tribute played in his honor inside Intuit Dome, knocked down Brooklyn’s second 3-pointer of the night, then Michael Porter Jr. followed with a pair of free throws to get the Nets into double figures. Then the bottom fell out.
Brooklyn stayed stuck on 10 points until the 3:07 mark, when Day’Ron Sharpe finally ended the drought with an offensive rebound and putback. In between, the Clippers ripped off a 15-2 run to take complete control, with James Harden setting the tone as a scorer, just like he did the last time these teams met when Los Angeles visited Barclays Center on Jan. 9 in a 121-105 Clippers win.
The Nets suffered a 59-point loss when they visited Intuit Dome last season, the worst in franchise history. This one got away early, too. Brooklyn trailed 38-14 after one, shot 4-for-20 from the field with six turnovers and did it all shorthanded without Noah Clowney (back soreness), Cam Thomas (left ankle sprain) and Nolan Traore (illness).
Harden (14) and Kawhi Leonard (21) combined for 35 first-half points, just two shy of what the Nets could manage over 24 minutes with an 11-man rotation. Los Angeles held Brooklyn to 27.9% shooting, turned nine Nets turnovers into eight points and went into the break with 68 points on 54.5% shooting.
Early in the third, John Collins shoved Egor Dëmin after the rookie wrapped up Harden on a fastbreak. Mann immediately stepped in and returned the shove, exchanging words with Collins as he did it, a veteran sticking up for the rookie. Collins and Mann were both assessed technical fouls, and Dëmin responded by scoring 12 straight points after opening 0-for-4.
Brooklyn edged the quarter 29-28 behind Dëmin’s 3-for-6 shooting, but the Nets still faced a 30-point hole entering the fourth. The 19-year-old was the lone Brooklyn player in double figures through three quarters.
Porter was held to just nine points, and outside of Dëmin, fellow rookie Danny Wolf was the only other Net in double figures, finishing with 14 points off the bench on 3-for-13 shooting.
Leonard scored a game-high 28 points, adding five rebounds and two assists in just 25 minutes, fueling a 56.4% shooting night for the Clippers.
The Nets will try to wash their hands of this latest blowout as the road trip continues Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center.
