BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- No jazz heard in Brooklyn, only boo's and blues.
The Utah Jazz were in town Friday night and heard loud and clear. They handed the Nets their fifth straight loss, 108-86. It's the harsh reality that every game for the Nets is a tough one, no matter the record. That doesn't leave the two-win January Nets in a good place with the losing streak carrying over against the Thunder, Heat, Mavericks and Pelicans.
All five Utah starters finished in double figures, but it was Gordon Hayward who led the way with 21 points and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, the only Nets' starters to finish in double figures were Wayne Ellington (11 points) and Thaddeus Young (10 points). True story.
With the loss, the Nets dropped to 11-33 on the season and 7-17 at home.
As the Nets fell down by 27 late in the third quarter, you could hear a loud barrage of boos from the Brooklyn crowd. At least some people still care.
They started off hot and led after one, but suddenly grew stagnant and became cold like the weather outside. They went down by 11 in the second quarter and trailed by eight heading into the second half.
It could've been worse, but as we're used to with these guys this season, they had plenty of opportunities to take advantage of Utah's poor start but they didn't and they paid for it.
And it only got worse in the second half.
Brook Lopez committed three turnovers in the first five minutes of the third quarter and was immediately taken out. Rudy Gobert controlled the paint on the defensive end, which caused Brooklyn to fall in an even deeper hole. They went down by as much as 28 as the Jazz outscored the Nets 37-27 in the third quarter.
And, as we usually say on a premature note: Game over.
After his three turnovers, Brook Lopez was benched at the 7:24 mark and didn't return for the rest of the second half. He, along with Joe Johnson, scored eight points on the night.
The lone bright spots? Bojan Bogdanovic. He snapped out of his slump (for now) and scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Sergey Karasev was also the only Net with a positive +/- and finished with nine points. Willie Reed also chipped in 12 points.
Rudy Gobert finished with only 10 points and five rebounds, but his prowess around the rim gave the Nets trouble all night. The Nets, who live in the paint, were held to just 38 points down low. But hey, they nailed 6 of the 15 three-pointers attempted!
The Nets are 1-10 since Tony Brown took over for Lionel Hollins. Obviously they don't have the ‘horses' to be a legitimate team in this league, but will things ever get better? Will any moves occur at the trade deadline to at least make this team FUN to watch?
Unlikely.
Next up: Oklahoma City Thunder at Nets, Sunday 3:30 PM.
To all: Stay safe an warm during this supposedly bad snow storm we're bracing for this weekend.
For more on the Utah Jazz, check them out at SLC Dunk.
- Utah Jazz vs Brooklyn Nets - Box Score - NBA.com
- Utah Jazz vs. Brooklyn Nets - Box Score - ESPN
- Game Thread: Brooklyn Nets vs. Utah Jazz, 7:30 PM - NetsDaily
- 2nd Half Game Thread: Jazz at Nets - NetsDaily
- Hayward scores 21 points to lead Jazz past Nets 108-86 - AP
- Ellington's Fancy Dish (Video) - NBA.com
- The Stifle Tower (Video) - NBA.com
- Gobert's Five Dunks vs. Nets (Video) - NBA.com
- Gobert Throws Down (Video) - NBA.com
- Hayward Glides In (Video) - NBA.com
- Hayward Goes Reverse (Video) - NBA.com
- Brown on Nets' need to make better decisions (Video) - YES Network
- Brown on difficult loss to the Jazz (Video) - YES Network
- Lopez on Nets' sloppy game (Video) - YES Network
- Young on what went wrong for Nets against Jazz (Video) - YES Network
- Nets’ inspired start falls apart in another meltdown - Fred Kerber - New York Post
- Nurse! Nets hire shooting coach to cure woeful offense - Fred Kerber - New York Post
- David Blatt now an option for Nets, who lose ugly to Jazz - Peter Botte - New York Daily News
- Will Nets pursue David Blatt as coach? - Laura Albanese - Newsday
- Nets embarrassed by Jazz, 108-86 - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Nets notes: Brooklyn hires shooting coach - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Nets crushed by Jazz, become Worst Worst Blizzards of All-Time (Game Grades) - Benny Nadeau - The Brooklyn Game
- Nets hire David Nurse as shooting coach - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Nets show no fight in loss to Jazz - Gregory Hrinya - Examiner.com
- Hot-shooting Utah Jazz turn early deficit into blowout win over Brooklyn Nets - Jody Genessy - Deseret News