The Nets lose to the Blazers for the second time in ten days.
The Nets and the Portland Trail Blazers had another competitive game, but the team from the Pacific Northwest came away with another win. Brooklyn played well most of the contest as the team kept trading blows with their opponents.
With just a few seconds left on the clock, the score was tied at 103, but Portland had possession. This was when Anfernee Simons took control and scored a last-second floater to lift the Trail Blazers to the victory, 103-105.
“I reminded the lads that there is seldom a single move that sums up the entire game. It’s an accumulation of plays; they were able to get to our rim 36 times, including 16 second-chance points, so it’s the plays that occurred in the first, second, third, and fourth quarters,” Coach JV said of Simons’ game-winning shot. “We were gonna double Grant or Simons, give him credit, good move to get to the rim and finish.”
The Nets had a decent performance
Despite the unfortunate result, Vaguhn’s men had some solid performances, Mikal Bridges led Brooklyn in scoring with 21 points, while Spencer Dinwiddie had a strong bounceback with 19 points and seven assists.
Nic Claxton remained solid with 12 points and rebounds, showcasing his ability to defend on switches. He managed to limit Simons’ impact on drives in the paint for the first three quarters until the Portland guard took over in the fourth with 13 points in the final period.
Jerami Grant was the thorn in the Nets’ side for most of the game, scoring 30 points and grabbing eight rebounds. He was making shots from all three levels, especially thriving in high-post-ups.
Another losing streak for Brooklyn
This loss marks the fourth straight for the Nets, dating back to their previous game against the Blazers on January 7. Brooklyn has only had one win since December 26. They are in a bad rut, and climbing out of it will be challenging because they have a tough schedule for the rest of January.
The Nets’ next two games will be against the two Los Angeles teams, who are both packed with superstars. Brooklyn must do their best to end this cold streak because this season will be a disaster if they don’t make it to the Playoffs because they don’t own their draft picks for 2024 and 2025
