Brooklyn Nets Return From All-Star Break With Blowout Loss to Nuggets

Final. 129. 73. 109. 147

The Brooklyn Nets‘ losing streak extended to 15 after a blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets out of the All-Star break.

Despite getting an extended break thanks to All-Star Weekend, the Brooklyn Nets still couldn’t come out with a victory to begin their West Coast road trip.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 17 points. Trevor Booker and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson each added 15. Gary Harris scored a game-high 25 points for the Nuggets, while Wilson Chandler added 24, and Danilo Gallinari chipped in 20.

Caris LeVert made his second NBA career start. Jeremy Lin returned to the Nets’ starting lineup after missing the last 26 games.

Brooklyn started the game playing good defense and jumped out to a quick 9-4 advantage. However, Denver capitalized on the Nets’ turnovers and stagnant offense, and went on a 10-0 run to regain the lead. This prompted Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson to call a timeout.

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Out of the Nets’ timeout, Lin knocked down his first basket, a three-pointer, though he would only play the first six minutes of the game and return past the midway point of the second quarter. Shortly after, former Net Mason Plumlee fouled Hollis-Jefferson on a shot attempt, putting the Nuggets over the foul limit with 6:29 remaining in the quarter. Still, Brooklyn was unable to take advantage of this for another couple of minutes, and Denver extended their lead to 22-12 with five minutes left in the first.

Then, two consecutive buckets from Booker, and one trey each from Justin Hamilton and Joe Harris brought the Nets back within four, 26-22. The period ended with a nifty layup from Jamal Murray, followed by a flashy layup from Spencer Dinwiddie. Brooklyn trailed by five, 30-25.

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To open up the second period, both teams traded baskets, but with 10:21 left in the half, Brooklyn’s 8-0 run cut Denver’s lead to 37-35. Led by Chandler and Nikola Jokic, Denver responded with an 8-2 run to go back up by eight points. Though the Nets scored the final five points of the half, the Nuggets still led 64-53 at halftime.

The Nets showed some fight to begin the second half by moving the ball well, but that did not last for long. Denver broke the 100-point mark before the end of the third quarter and outscored Brooklyn 37-22 in the period. This is the third time this season the Nets allowed their opponent to reach 100 points by the end of three quarters.

Unfortunately, Brooklyn fell in far too big of a hole to climb out of and lost, 129-109.

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The Nets face the Golden State Warriors tomorrow night in the tail-end of their back-to-back. Denver hosts the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.