The most positive sequence of the Brooklyn Nets' 136-86 road loss to the Boston Celtics Wednesday came with 55 seconds remaining. Leading by 50 points, the Celtics dribbled out the shot clock, sparing the Nets from tying or beating their worst loss in franchise history, a 52-point defeat to the Houston Rockets in 1978.
The Nets were the healthiest they've been in weeks on Wednesday, with Cam Johnson returning from an eight-game absence, joining Day'Ron Sharpe, Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Schroder as recent additions to the lineup. However, they had the appearance of a team looking ahead to the All-Star break, with the embarrassing defeat serving as another reminder of the monumental gap between Brooklyn and the NBA's elite.
Brooklyn's starting five combined for 29 points. Mikal Bridges was the only starter to reach double figures, scoring 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting. The Nets scored 17 points through the first 17 minutes of game action and finished shooting 31-of-81 (38.3 percent) as a team.
Meanwhile, they allowed Boston to drain 22 threes on 44 attempts. And it wasn't Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, who was sidelined, doing the damage, as Payton Pritchard (28 points on 11-of-16 shooting) and Derrick White (27 points on 10-of-16 shooting) carved up Brooklyn's defense.
Despite his team's abysmal effort, head coach Jacque Vaughn rebuffed questions about a lack of buy-in from his players.
“I think it's far from that,” Vaughn replied when asked if he feels he's not getting through to the team. “These guys haven't played together. CJ’s never played with Dennis Schroder and it goes down the line. Day’Ron is just getting back tonight. I don’t think you can count on one hand how many times you’ve seen games like this from this group. I have total confidence in this group.”
While Vaughn indicated the loss will serve as a reminder of the work the Nets have ahead of themselves, he said his players will use the All-Star break to reset ahead of a 28-game stretch to close the regular season.
“I think after this loss these guys will get away and get refreshed, get their minds and bodies right, and be ready to go after the break,” he said. “I totally believe in this group, that they'll be able to do that and accept the challenge ahead of us.”
Bridges delivered a more stern message following the historic defeat.
“You can’t just let this go and think like, oh let it drop,” he told Newsday's Evan Barnes. “You got beat by 50, it’s not just let it go. A lot of shit is not right and you gotta fix it.”
The playoff-hopeful Nets will have a week to do some soul-searching ahead of the stretch run to close the regular season. Wednesday's loss drops Brooklyn to 21-33, two and a half games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the final spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Vaughn's squad will return to action on Feb. 22 in Toronto, opening a four-game road trip with stops in Minnesota, Memphis and Orlando.
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