The Brooklyn Nets fell to the San Antonio Spurs 109-97 Tuesday on the road. It was Brooklyn’s sixth loss in its last seven games.
With 8:55 to play in the third quarter, the Brooklyn Nets and San Antonio Spurs were tied 54-54.
However, a Tony Parker three-pointer with 7:50 to play kickstarted an 11-0 Spurs run and the Western Conference team maintained its lead the rest of the way.
Caris LeVert led the way for Brooklyn with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in 28 minutes off the bench.
But, Brooklyn’s frontcourt didn’t have the most flashy game of the season. DeMarre Carroll, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Tyler Zeller combined for 23 points. Carroll also shot just 1-of-10 from the floor in 27 minutes with a -4 plus/minus.
The Spurs starting five was too much for Kenny Atkinson’s crew to handle. Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 and 20 points, respectively. Pau Gasol and Parker combined for 29 points on a solid 12-of-20 shooting.
San Antonio shot a nice 51.3 percent from the floor as Brooklyn converted on just 41.9 percent of its shots.
However, Brooklyn continued to live from beyond the three-point line as it took 32 attempts from downtown. The Nets made 12 of them.
Driving to the basket wasn’t on the menu tonight for Brooklyn as it only got to the free throw line nine times compared to the Spurs 24.
Brooklyn’s first lead of the game came at the 4:41 mark in the second quarter. A Quincy Acy 25-foot three-pointer from Spencer Dinwiddie gave the Nets a 35-34 lead.
The Nets had another second-quarter lead with 2:18 to play. A LeVert jumper put Brooklyn ahead 42-41.
But the Spurs used a 9-0 run to pull ahead 50-42 before taking a 50-44 lead into halftime.
San Antonio outscored Brooklyn 59-53 in the second half to secure its second straight win and 16th home victory.
The Nets fall to 12-21 on the season and are 5-11 on the road.
Rookie shooting guard Milton Doyle made his NBA debut with 1:40 to play in the final quarter. Doyle, played college basketball at Loyola and scored two points in his first NBA action.
Doyle signed a two-way contract with the Nets on Dec. 18.
Brooklyn will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday as the team travels to New Orleans to take on the 17-16 Pelicans.