Brooklyn Nets Squander Against Mavericks After Dreadful Second Half

105. 79. 96. 147. Final

After spending just one game on the East Coast, the Brooklyn Nets traveled to face the Dallas Mavericks and wrap up their eight-game road trip.

To start, both offenses were incredibly sluggish. The count was 26-23 in favor of the Nets after the first quarter, and they were able to keep their lead for the remainder of the half and entered halftime on top, 49-46.

With Kenny Atkinson giving Brook Lopez the night off, the Nets needed other guys to step up and create offense. Jeremy Lin was the most notable, and he poured in 12 points to lead all scorers at the intermission. Trailing him was Isaiah Whitehead with nine, and both Trevor Booker and Sean Kilpatrick had five.

In an attempt to evaluate all the bodies on his roster, Atkinson had played 11 guys over the first two quarters, and all but two had registered double-digits in minutes. The platoon rotation gave great defensive energy, and the Mavericks shot just 38 percent from the field in the first half. Brooklyn also did a great job forcing turnovers, and Dallas had eight giveaways in the first half, compared to Brooklyn’s three. They had a balanced effort, but Harrison Barnes was the only one to get hot, and he tallied 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Former Net Yogi Ferrell had four points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field.

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Lin and Quincy Acy quickly spurred the Nets’ 7-2 run after they quickened the pace to begin the third, but Dallas answered back with a 10-0 run of their own. The rest of the period was ho-hum; the teams traded buckets, and neither was able to pull away. Dallas did, however, put up 28 to Brooklyn’s 24 and took a 74-73 lead into the fourth, largely due to Brooklyn’s four turnovers. Whitehead managed to collect five points, giving him 14 in total and tying Lin as the team’s leading scorer.

Brooklyn’s collapse began to escalate in the fourth. The Nets’ offense went dry, while their defense had already hopped on the plane back home. After an Acy dunk, they trailed by 14 with about 2:30 left in the period, and more than five minutes of game time passed between that score and Whitehead’s three at the 8:29 mark.

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With the 105-96 loss, the Nets fall to 11-53 on the season. Whitehead finished a game-high (and career-high) 24 points, and Lin tallied 18. Brooklyn looks to get back on track Sunday against the New York Knicks.