DALLAS — Young teams have to learn how to win in the endgame. Friday’s fourth quarter folding was an example of that.
The Nets lost 119-111 to the Mavericks before 19,032 at American Airlines Center, a game where they couldn’t buy a basket or a rebound down the stretch.
Brooklyn shot just 6-for-21 overall and 2-for-9 from deep in the final quarter, getting outscored 29-19 and sent home with a loss.
“It came down to the defensive rebounding in the fourth; 10 second-chance points in the fourth quarter. That’s how you lose games. And also transition defense,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “We’ve been better lately; a good team rebounding the ball and a good team in transition defense. And we couldn’t get it done [Friday].”
It was actually 7-0 in second-chance points in that fourth quarter, but the point stands.
Michael Porter Jr. — who poured in a game-high 34 points — drilled a 3-pointer to knot the score at 110-all with 3:10 to play. But they watched it get untied thanks to their own floundering offense, going 0-for-6 with two turnovers down the stretch.
“We kept looking at Mike, instead of using him and others taking or making the shot,” Fernández said.
“It’s a different brand of basketball in the last quarter, but really the last seven, eight minutes. It really tightens up and you’ve got to hold your spots a little better,” Porter said. “You’ve got to be more aggressive. Guys are going to get away with more holding, so just being strong the last seven, eight minutes and being decisive.”
The Nets (6-18) sit sixth in the lottery odds, now a half-game behind OKC (via the Clippers), Sacramento and Indiana, all tied for third.
The Nets couldn’t stop Anthony Davis in the second half, and couldn’t stop Cooper Flagg at all. Davis scored 20 of his 24 points after halftime, while Flagg had 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Trailing 65-59 after Davis found Max Christie for a 3-pointer with 28.7 seconds left in the first half, the Nets mounted a 19-8 run that spanned intermission.
Porter capped the run on a 3-pointer from Nic Claxton (14 points, 10 boards), putting the Nets up 78-73 with 7:49 left in the third.
Up by two, Brooklyn gave up a 7-0 run to fall behind 106-99. They managed to pull even, but their offense cratered and never got over the hump.
Danny Wolf had 17 points and seven boards off the bench. Egor Dëmin had just three points in 18:20, limited to 2:14 in the fourth.
“He was trying to fix mistakes by trying to make things happen. And this is not how you want to do things,” Fernández said. “I need him to play with better readiness and better physicality. And this is not the way that the team needs him to play. So, he’s got to be better. Otherwise, the minutes are going to go down, and somebody else will take advantage. I know he cares; he’s always responded and punched back. So, he’s way better than what he performed.”
