Brooklyn Nets bombarded, out-classed by Orlando Magic, lose 114-106

THE Brooklyn nets played two very different halves in a row to close out the week, losing a sloppy game to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday before leading the Cleveland Cavaliers out of their own gym on Sunday.

Brooklyn shot 18 of 35 from deep in Cleveland, good for a season-high 51.4%, including a flurry of buzzers and rustling prayers that put the game away late in the third quarter . It was enough to earn the Nets a rare return trip in the middle of their six-game road trip, which would continue against the Orlando Magic after two days off.

The Nets practiced in Brooklyn before hitting the road, where they reiterated that such shooting performance was not easily replicated and that their energy should come from defense and intangibles, not making shots . You know, as usual.

Nic Claxton, for his part, knew the Nets would have some serious work to do against an Orlando Magic team fighting for potential home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA Playoffs: “Well, Cleveland is missing a lot of players right now, so I think it would be better if we can go out and put in a performance like that against a team like Orlando.”

Spoiler alert: the Nets had no such performance against Orlando.

Their 3-point shooting not only abandoned them, but transferred to their opponent early. The Magic entered Wednesday night fifth-last in the NBA in 3-point percentage, but showed no signs of it, shooting 8 of 14 from deep in the first half. Worse still, the charge was led by Orlando players Jonathan Isaac, Wendell Carter Jr. and Jalen Suggs…

Orlando’s offensive leaders, Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, were largely content to scatter the ball around the perimeter and watch threes go down in the first half, barely struggling to build a comfortable, early lead over Brooklyn.

All-Star Banchero recorded just two field goal attempts in the first 24 minutes, needing to overexert himself as his team built an 18-point lead as the second quarter wound down. However, the Nets closed the half on an 18-5 run, somehow cutting their deficit to just 61-54 to close out a first half that often looked much uglier than that .

Orlando made three points, sure, but Brooklyn only scored 16 points in the first quarter, a much more ominous sign of things to come. It was Cam Thomas who led the charge in the second quarter, constantly getting to the rim while struggling to find his outside shot…

Thomas finished with 21 points to lead Brooklyn and was helped early by Cam Johnson, who returned from a three-game absence to score 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and Dennis Smith Jr., the Nets’ only two . who made several threes during a wacky night in Orlando.

Brooklyn also benefited from a wild whistle in the second quarter, shooting a dozen free throws as the officials overcorrected after committing zero fouls in the first six minutes of the night. Once Joe Ingles (who else?) went one-on-one with Claxton early in the second quarter, resulting in a technical for the first, the game slowed to a snail’s pace.

There were six technicians called Wednesday night, but no ejections, and 53 free throw attempts combined. But despite Brooklyn’s comeback in the second quarter, Kevin Ollie thought this style of play favored the home team: “They just did a really good job of bringing us the physicality.” And we just can’t allow a team to do that, especially a team this good. We have to be physical, we have to be tough, and we just didn’t do that tonight.

Thomas, however, had a different perspective on the loss. Brooklyn’s leading scorer was asked what specifically stood out in the loss, and he replied: “Just the shooting.” We had a few open looks. You know, 7 for 26 from three. I mean, we’ve shot some great looks, but it’s hard when you just can’t pull them off.

It would be difficult to argue with Thomas, especially after a third quarter in which the Nets were outscored 32-23, on the verge of sealing the defeat.

Mikal Bridges didn’t quite repeat his scoreless first half, but continued to struggle regardless, accounting for backbreaking turnovers during a third quarter where the Nets simply couldn’t take their momentum. Bridges scored 17 points on the night, but many of them came too little, too late…

That layup capped Brooklyn’s best sequence of the night, cutting Orlando’s lead to eight in the fourth quarter, a last-ditch effort to make it a thrilling finish.

Unfortunately, Ingles made this ridiculous shot on possession after…

…as the loss was summed up by a buzzer-beater that hit the top of the backboard before gracing the nylon. Brooklyn would no longer pose much of a threat, sealed by Ollie pulling his starters a little earlier than usual, down 12 with two and a half minutes remaining. Maybe his eyes couldn’t take it anymore.

No player dominated this match. Seven magicians (?magic-men?) scored in double figures, including all of their starting five. Brooklyn had six such scorers; The only starter who couldn’t score ten was Dorian Finney-Smith, who missed a few crucial three-pointers in the second half, finishing 0 of 5 from distance.

But once again, Nic Claxton’s worst fears have come true…

If the Magic didn’t punk Brooklyn with pure physicality, as Ollie suggested, they punked them with shots in the first quarter, where they opened a lead from which Brooklyn was never able to recover.

The Nets certainly tried, never giving in to the blows. Ingles elbowed, shoved, and insulted half the list, and they all responded. Brooklyn even made 55% of their twos and shot 23 of 27 from the line. They just never made it to the big three, and that’s all Orlando did. (Especially curious since, on a night when the Nets shot less than 30 percent from deep, Lonnie Walker IV saw only eight minutes of playing time.)

“We had flare-ups,” Ollie said. “We came back in the game, but you can’t go down by 15 and 18 in the first half and think you’re going to come back, especially on the road. This is a common theme when we go down early… We need to do a better job of striking first.

Whether it’s a lack of physicality or an inability to do a little thing called take pictures doomed Brooklyn, the result was another defeat in a season full of them. This one wasn’t particularly heartbreaking, just a drop of water on a tired camel’s back.

As such, Ollie could only muster some enthusiasm after the match: “I hope they see some light at the end of the tunnel, because the season isn’t over yet.”

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Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

The Brooklyn Nets will have two more days off before continuing their road trip against the Indiana Pacers, the first of three matchups over a two-week period between the two teams. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET Saturday evening.