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Nets fall victim to the 'Randy Foye game,' lose to the Jazz 116-107

By Tom Lorenzo
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

One night after the Nets were blown out in Denver, they were back at it, this time in Utah and hoping to take care of business against the Jazz and their mighty frontline. It was also a chance for Deron Williams to return to Utah and pick up a victory, plus an opportunity for Brook Lopez to turn the page after his awful performance in Denver.

Both players started hot, but the Nets defense was about as non-existent as it gets early on, and the sloppy play continued, with the Nets turning the ball over 17 times. They also ran into a hot-hand in Randy Foye, who made 8-of-9 threes. Even as the Nets bench tried to keep the game from getting out of hand, the Nets continued to play sloppy and sluggish basketball.

It was just too much Utah and not enough Brooklyn, as the Jazz topped the Nets, 116-107.

Heading back east at 4-3 is, well... it could have been worse, right? Well, what started as a well-played road trip ended in back-to-back ugly losses for the Nets. They are now five games behind the Knicks in the loss column.

Next up, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in Cleveland, on Wednesday.

Game Flow

Williams and Lopez both got off into a nice offensive rhythm early, yet the defensive struggles carried over from Friday night. Utah made 11 of their first 13 shots, as they were getting to many open looks and transition baskets. And while the Nets were hanging in, eventually it was time for Brooklyn to start playing some defense.

They also continued to struggle with turnovers, coughing up six in the first quarter. It wasn't pretty, but thanks to their early shooting prowess, the Nets only trailed the Jazz by five, 33-28, after one.

In the second, P.J .went to a bigs combo of Andray Blatche and Kris Humphries, who rattled off 10 straight points for the Nets in the second, pulling them to within one point of the Jazz at the 8-minute mark. Blatche and Humphries worked the glass, stretched the offense (playing inside-outisde) and even got active on the defensive side of the ball.

The bench was having a fantastic quarter, showing Nets fans what a quick, run-out pace looks like -- thanks in big part to C.J. Watson and his transition offense. They made it so P.J. actually kept the starters on the bench for nearly eight minutes.

From there, things got a little weird, with a few questionable calls, some no-calls, some anger, some Reggie Evans low-post moves, etc. It was one of those stretches where every possession felt like a question mark.

The Nets carried a slim 2-point lead into the half, 54-52.

Even as the Nets tried to get into an offensive rhythm to start the third, it was once again turnovers that did them in. From missing spots, to too much dribbling, to just downright lazy passing. For every run the Nets went on, trying to separate themselves from the Jazz, they went on a counteractive sloppy run, allowing for Utah to get some easy transition buckets.

It also didn't help that Randy Foye hit four of five three-point attempts in the third quarter, alone. He was simply on fire, as the Nets were getting Gerald Wallace long three-points attempts in response, which is about as bad of a possession as it gets.

P.J. responded by going to the Blatche-Lopez combo down low, hoping the size and offensive mismatch might do them some good. It worked early, but of course the Jazz responded on the other end with more Foye.

In fact:

Between Foye's hot shooting and Gordon Hayward's defense (three steals and three blocks through three quarters), the Jazz had gained enough momentum to carry a 9-point lead into the fourth quarter, 83-74.

The fourth started off in a familiar fashion, with Randy Foye hitting a long three-pointer, even as the Nets attempted to close out on him. It was just one of those games, really.

Lots of blame to go around, but mainly on the lack of defensive effort and the sloppy turnovers, which was all too familiar from Friday night's game in Denver.

Even as the Nets made their run late in the fourth, they had already dug a big enough hole that they just didn't have it in them to overcome the 17-point deficit they faced in the fourth.

Yup, this is what the end of a 7-game road trip looks like, and it's not pretty.

Watson finished with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting off the bench, while Blatche went for 10 points, four rebounds and four blocks.

For the starters, Williams had 21 points and 11 assists, Lopez finished with 27 and 7, and Reggie Evans pulled down 16 rebounds.

For more on the Jazz, see: SLC Dunk

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Game 73: Brooklyn Nets @ Utah Jazz

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