The Brooklyn Nets have proven they can hang with playoff-caliber teams over their last five games. However, closing those games has been a struggle that underscores how far they are from being a complete team.
Brooklyn's late-game ineptitude reared its head again during Sunday's 119-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors. After falling behind 12-0 to begin the game and 70-58 early in the third quarter, the Nets came roaring back to tie it 94-94 with 4:24 remaining. However, that was as close as they'd get, as the Raptors closed on a 15-5 run to seal their seventh straight win.
While Brooklyn's late-game struggles have become a recurring theme, Jordi Fernandez pointed to his team's poor starts to quarters when assessing the loss.
“It just started with our intentions from the beginning. We were not ready to play. If you’re picking and choosing, then basketball gods go, ‘Everything gets in the right place,’” Fernandez said. “And obviously, there was a couple of post-up plays where we come from the baseline, open up the three, there’s no ball pressure [and] they made the three. But forget the coverages, it’s just a matter of our starting unit started 12-0 in the first quarter and 5-0 in the third quarter.
“So to start the first half and to start the second half, we’re minus-17. I trust those guys, and those guys have done a great job. We battled back and we were fighting for the game, but if you put yourself in that situation, it’s just really hard. We came out flat with no energy, and it’s not the way you want to start games.”
Despite Fernandez's fixation on the Nets' slow start on Sunday, his team's clutch struggles have proven costly.
Nets collapse in final minutes again during loss to Raptors
Following Michael Porter Jr.'s late-game heroics during Friday's win over the Boston Celtics, the Nets went ice-cold down the stretch in Toronto. They shot 2-of-7 from the field and 1-of-5 from three with two turnovers over the final 4:24. Meanwhile, they couldn't get a stop on the other end, allowing the Raptors to shoot 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from three to close the game.
Before the Boston victory, Brooklyn blew fourth-quarter leads against the Orlando Magic and Celtics. The Nets have been outscored 42-25 in 18 clutch minutes (final five minutes of games with five points) this season. They've shot 10-of-36 (27.8 percent) from the field and 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from three in the clutch.
While the Nets have played an improved brand of basketball of late, their lack of offensive creators remains glaring late in games. Porter Jr. has carried a tremendous load offensively, but is not a natural ball-handler or self-creator. With Cam Thomas sidelined by a hamstring injury, Brooklyn has been forced to lean on rookie Egor Demin and journeymen Terance Mann and Tyrese Martin to orchestrate its offense.
Martin led the Nets with 26 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 from three off the bench on Sunday. Porter Jr. continued his high-level play, posting 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting with six rebounds, four assists and one turnover. The same goes for Noah Clowney, who scored 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while R.J. Barrett and Ja'Kobe Walter added 16 apiece. Toronto had eight players reach double figures during the win.
