The Brooklyn Nets were seeking a spark under newly hired interim head coach Kevin Ollie coming out of the All-Star break. “Energy-generating behaviors” had been Ollie's focus during his first two practices upon taking over. However, the majority of EGBs during his first game Thursday came from the Toronto Raptors as they blew the Nets out 121-93 at Scotiabank Arena.

Brooklyn shot 33-of-80 from the field (41 percent) while turning the ball over 19 times. Those offensive woes were accentuated by horrid transition defense, with the Nets allowing a franchise-record 46 fastbreak points as Toronto shot 41-of-84 from the field (49 percent) and 14-of-31 from three (45 percent).

“We just didn’t make shots,” Ollie said. “But their effort, their energy, loose balls, offensive rebounds, beat us in probably every area… When our shots don't go in, we can't stop playing defense… They were getting layups, we can't have that happen. It was just a snowball effect.”

Nets crumble in Kevin Ollie's debut

Kevin Ollie on one side, a bunch of Brooklyn Nets fans on the other side with the big eyes emoji over their faces

Mikal Bridges (21 points on 7-of-16 shooting) and Cam Thomas (19 points on 8-of-16 shooting) were the only Nets to provide a semblance of offense during the loss.

Ben Simmons was a non-factor, posting two points and four assists on 1-of-2 shooting while refusing to attack the basket. In a puzzling decision, Ollie played Simmons alongside centers Nic Claxton or Day'Ron Sharpe for all 21 of his minutes. While previous head coach Jacque Vaughn had started Simmons alongside Claxton in the week leading up to his firing, he frequently split the pair of non-shooters for extended stretches as games progressed.

Entering Thursday, Simmons and Claxton had posted a -23.8 net rating in 70 minutes together this season, per pbpstats.com. The duo's 100.0 offensive rating ranked nearly eight points below the Memphis Grizzlies' league-worst offense (107.7). It was more of the same against Toronto, with one, if not both, clogging the paint in the halfcourt offense.

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Simmons was a minus-23 for the night, while Claxton scored six points on his way to a minus-24 in 32 minutes. Dennis Smith Jr. (27.4 percent from three on 1.9 attempts per game) got the nod over rookie Jalen Wilson for Brooklyn's final rotation spot Thursday, adding a fourth non-shooter to a struggling offense alongside Simmons, Claxton and Sharpe.

The rest of Brooklyn's bench wasn't much better, with Cam Johnson and Dennis Schroder combining for 10 points on 2-of-14 shooting. Dorian Finney-Smith, who started over Johnson, scored three points on three shot attempts in 15 minutes.

It was clear Ollie faced an uphill battle in revitalizing the struggling Nets following Vaughn's dismissal. However, the blowout loss to a Raptors team that is 16 games under .500 serves as a reminder of just how steep that climb will be.

Things won't get easier for Brooklyn as they continue a four-game road trip against the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.