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

5. Defense against Anthony Davis was outstanding

OK, let’s get this out of the way quickly. Yes, Anthony Davis absolutely put Jarrett Allen on a poster with a monster dunk in the third quarter Friday night.

That was one of just six shots Davis converted in his 19 attempts, though, so on balance, Allen and backup Ed Davis did some serious quality work in frustrating Davis at the offensive end.

Through the first three games of the season, Davis was averaging 30.3 points per game on 59.3 percent shooting. Brooklyn’s center tandem combined Friday night to hold Davis to 18 points on 31.6 percent shooting.

You have to call that a big win.

Davis has turned into a terrific offensive talent, a multi-dimensional scorer who can bang inside, knock down the jumper in the midrange and has gotten much better over the last season-plus of taking and making looks from deep.

He didn’t become a 28-point-per-game scorer in each of the last two seasons just by dunking a lot.

That’s also what makes Friday’s loss so frustrating. That matchup with the Brow was one the Nets could not have anticipated winning, but they did — or at least fought to a tough draw.

To do that good a job defensively against a three-time All-NBA performer who finished third in the MVP voting last season and still lose? Disheartening at the very least.