Nets Get No Love, Fall to Memphis in 13th Straight Loss

In their second to last contest before the All-Star break, the Brooklyn Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 112-103. Mike Conley dominated for his squad as he notched 30 points.

The lowly Brooklyn Nets were still without Jeremy Lin and Quincy Acy in this match-up. The Grizzlies were missing hard-nosed defender, Tony Allen in this contest.

Memphis has a firm grasp on a playoff spot, as opposed to Brooklyn’s abysmal record this season. The Grizzlies were looking to come out strong after a loss to the Golden State Warriors last Friday. Brooklyn was still looking to break the double-digit win plateau coming into this game.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was all over the court as he notched seven points, along with an impressive steal to begin the game. RHJ, now a staple at the starting power forward slot, played with much confidence and aggressiveness in this contest.

On the other side of the starting power forward matchup, JaMychal Green also got off to a strong start. He nailed his first three shot attempts and did a good job cleaning the glass, as he had three boards in the first four minutes.

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The Nets and Grizzlies found themselves in a deadlock as the first quarter came to a close. However, Memphis jumped out on a quick 10-0 run that was capped off by a player the Nets organization is very familiar with; Vince Carter. The Grizzlies led the Nets, 27-19 after 12 minutes of play.

The Nets were able to show some signs of life to begin the second quarter. A surprisingly effective backcourt tandem of Isaiah Whitehead and Joe Harris helped Brooklyn claw their way back into the game.

However, Brooklyn’s defensive effort failed to contain the Grizzlies’ potent offensive attack. Carter tacked on a couple of more long threes to bring his team’s lead to double-digits. Brook Lopez failed to find his groove in the first half as he shot 1-8 from the field. Despite this, they continued to keep battling and were able to keep the deficit at a manageable margin down the stretch of the second quarter.

The Nets trailed, 52-42 going into halftime.

Brooklyn opened up the third quarter ice cold. The Nets were shooting an unacceptable, 26.3 percent from behind the arc at that point in the game. While the Memphis lead hovered around 10, the Nets scrambled to find a spark offensively. Their efforts became futile, as Memphis increased their lead to 15 points in the waning moments of the third quarter.

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Kenny Atkinson finally found a spark when he put Sean Kilpatrick into the ballgame late in the third. Kilpatrick led his team on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits. Despite their poor three-point shooting, Brooklyn’s overall field goal percentage sat a respectable, 47 percent at the end of the third quarter. Memphis led, 79-72 heading into the final quarter.

The Grizzlies, headed by the tenacious play from Brandan Wright, then pushed their lead to 16, the largest of the night. This was a death sentence for Brooklyn in this one. One last valiant effort from the Nets was simply too little too late. Ultimately, Memphis took this game, 112-103. Brooklyn falls to, 9-46 while the Grizzlies improve their record, moving to 34-23.

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The Nets will take on Jason Kidd and the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday at Barclays Center before heading into the All-Star break.