Brooklyn Nets: 5 takeaways from a horrific finish in New Orleans

1. Russell, LeVert were very good … and very bad

D’Angelo Russell shot the ball well Friday night, finishing with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting and going 6-for-9 from 3-point range.

Caris LeVert struggled with his shot, but was still very productive with 21 points and hit a couple of big baskets in the fourth quarter to help the Nets maintain their lead.

But the two guards teamed up for two of the worst turnovers of the game in the fourth quarter, the first where Russell and LeVert coughed the ball up on a simple dribble-handoff.

The other was the gaffe late in the game when Russell threw the ball one place when LeVert was going elsewhere.

Russell was loose with the ball, turning it over five times and notching four assists. In the first half, DLo was fixated on trying to lob the ball to Jarrett Allen in the lane, something Anthony Davis was having none of. A couple of times Russell tried to force lobs that resulted in giveaways.

LeVert was a monster on the offensive glass, finishing with four of his six rebounds at that end, and put together some nifty moves in what appeared to be a game-closing run.

It’s not as if they are entirely unfamiliar with each other. Last season, the tandem played 466 minutes together.

But there have been times, both in the Indiana loss and Friday night, where they just weren’t seeing the same things and were not on the same page.

If this is going to continue to be the starting guard tandem — and after tonight, their 127 minutes played together is tied for the second-most of any two players — they have to get things figured out. Sooner would be better than later.

The team has turned the ball over 51 times in their 127 minutes, a pace that is just unsustainable.