Brooklyn Nets Lose 4th Quarter Scoring “Pace”

Thee Brooklyn Nets have a recurring theme that continues to bite them over and over again. If the Indiana game doesn’t shine the light on it, nothing will…

The Nets can’t put together a 48-minute offensive game on a consistent basis.

The Brooklyn Nets dropped their 19th game of the season to the Indiana Pacers, 104-97. It dropped their road record to 1-12 and they are now riding a four-game losing streak. The Nets were led by Jarrett Jack, with a game high 26 points while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists. Brook Lopez had 18 points while Thaddeus Young added another double-double to the collection plate with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Paul George had 23 points, including seven in the fourth quarter when it mattered most. He wasn’t alone in his quest. The bench played a huge part in this game. C.J. Miles finished with 15 points. Jordan Hill finished with a double double of his own with 15 points and ten rebounds and key contributions in the fourth quarter.

Anyone remember that Janet Jackson song, “What Have You Done For Me Lately”, in the late 80’s?

Well it seems like the last thing anyone can remember is the Nets consistently getting anything going in the right direction on the offensive end.

This is how bad things are for the  Nets at this moment… The Nets lost their first five games of the season before they upset the Houston Rockets and got Rockets head coach, Kevin McHale, fired, in my opinion. Then they got embarrassed in Boston to the point that the Celtics crowd taunted them about their draft picks. Then it seemed that every NBA journalist organization (ESPN included) decided to “revisit” the draft night trade that put out the lights on the Nets’ future like ConEdison.

Then Brooklyn showed some life. It’s hard to believe that they actually were making strides, even notching a .500 record on a 12-game stretch (It’s true… I researched it!) with a four-game home winning streak. Now the team is now at a season-high 12 games under .500. Considering how this team started the season, that makes this stat all the more troubling.

Let’s be clear here, the Nets tried. Lord knows they tried. But the game ended the same way, many other games ended…

The Nets can’t buy a basket on a street corner when it matters.

The Indiana game could have been a watershed moment for the Nets. They were limited to 10 players because of injury. Jarrett Jack came out of the gate so well that I would have been eating crow for Christmas dinner. Brook Lopez had his usual strong start in the first half.

Then the Brooklyn Nets did something that they almost never do… dominate a third quarter.

The Nets outscored the Pacers 30-23 in the frame, with Jarrett Jack scoring 14 of his team high 26 points along the way. After scoring so well against the Golden State Warriors and now against the Indiana Pacers, it seems that Jack seems to have extra pep in his step against his former teams. The Nets regained the lead in the game for the first time since 18-17 in the first quarter. Then Brooklyn parlayed that performance into a seven-point lead with about 11 minutes left in the game.

Cue the music… Dum da Dum Dum… Dum da Dum Dum… DUM!

This is the NBA, so every team makes a run. The Indiana Pacers went on a 15-2 run that was exacerbated by Brook Lopez picking up his 5th foul with a little more than six minutes left in the game. Jarrett Jack seemed to think that 26 points was enough to get his name in the paper because he only scored two points in the final frame. The Nets went from having a seven-point lead to losing it in a five-minute span falling behind 89-83.

Paul George, who will definitely be sending a check to the NBA’s Christmas fund for blasting the officials after the game, ended the run in style by stealing the ball from Willie Reed and ending up on SportsCenter with a nasty dunk on the other end. By then the Bankers Life Fieldhouse went from a library to a rock concert, with the crowd going absolutely nuts.

After the game, Lionel Hollins and a few players used the “stagnant” to describe the offense in the fourth quarter…

“We got beat by a good team,” Lionel Hollins said. “The reality is that we play well to a point, and then we got stagnant, and we started turning the ball over at crucial times, and we couldn’t get stops.”

Whether you like Lionel Hollins or not, he will state the obvious. Stevie Wonder could have seen the offense as stagnant.

Bottom line… the Nets stopped scoring and playing defense… again.

The Pacers made six of ten shots during the run while the Nets made one of six shots during the same span. The microcosm of the entire game when it came to the Nets was turnovers. Up until when the bottom fell out in the fourth quarter, the Nets had protected the ball, only turning the ball over six times in three quarters. During the Pacers run, they turned it over four times.

When all was said and done, the Indiana Pacers outscored the Nets 32-20. The Nets shot 8-18 and matched their three quarter total with turnovers with six. Two assists out of their eight turnovers showed the end of ball movement, something the Nets have struggled with all season long.

What does Brook Lopez have to say about all of this…

“It kind of just got away from us,” Lopez said, “As the fourth quarter rolled along.”

You think? What gave that away… another loss?