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Brooklyn Nets suffer meltdown late in fourth; lose 108-100 to Phoenix in overtime

By Anthony Puccio

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Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN -- Wanna hear a story that you've heard before? Too bad. The Nets squandered a big lead late in the game and lost to the Phoenix Suns, 108-100, in arguably the most disappointing loss of the season.

"It's like deja vu for us, Deron Williams said. "The past couple games like that, we had control of the game and just didn't put it away." Williams finished his night with nine points and nine assists, but shot 2-of-16 from the floor in 44 minutes and committed four turnovers.

They led by 15 with 5:45 remaining, but Phoenix finished the fourth quarter on a 16-1 run to tie it up a 92 apiece with 11 seconds remaining. The Nets finished the last 5:45 of regulation shooting 0-for-7 from the field while committing four turnovers. After Jarrett Jack missed what would've been the game-winner, the teams were headed to overtime.

"We stopped our flow of the game," Deron Williams said of the offense. "We ran sometimes, but we picked up the pace of the tempo -- then sometimes it felt like the ball was sticking and we were stagnant, and when we play like that it's not a secret that we're not a great team."

Joe Johnson wasn't on the court for the final shot. He was the only starter to finish in double figures with 11 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting. Last season, if Joe wasn't on the court during the final shot, riots may've formed throughout the streets of Brooklyn. How fast things can change.

When asked about why Joe wasn't on the court for the final shot, Hollins explained that the other guys deserved to be out there. "Cory was doing such a nice job. I kept Cory in the game; I had Thaddeus in, Joe on the bench -- that's why we have 12 players on the roster that can play."

With the miss came overtime and prior to tonight, the Nets were 1-3 in overtimes.

In overtime, the Suns outscored the Nets 16-8 with the dagger coming from Brandon Knight to put Phoenix up four with 17 seconds left. On the following possession, the Nets turned the ball over on the inbounds pass.

It's their second straight disappointing loss, but man, this one stings.

Brooklyn's bench had four players score in double digits, two of whom finished with double-doubles. Brook Lopez led the bench and team with 19 points and 13 rebounds. It was his seventh double-double of the season. He moved past Derrick Coleman for sixth on the Nets' career points list with his 10th point tonight. Cory Jefferson was the other double-double man with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in 16 minutes.

The bench scored a total of 62 points. The starters? 38 points. Perhaps some guys on the bench should be starting, namely Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young (10 points, five rebounds). As a whole, the Nets shot 35% from the floor and 36.4% from three. Phoenix nabbed 13 steals and forced 20-Brooklyn turnovers which led to 22 points for the opposition. It was sloppy.

Eric Bledsoe led Phoenix with 19 points and 10 assists. The Morris brothers, Markieff Morris & Marcus Morris both finished with 19 points, while Phoenix's hero, Brandon Knights, ended his night with 14 points and nine assists.

The Suns missed their first 21 three-pointers and finished the night 3-for-26 from three.

The Nets are now 25-35 and continue to fall further away from the eighth seed. Their next opponent is the Utah Jazz this Sunday night, 6:00PM at Barclays Center.

"I'm not gonna say what I've heard other coaches say," coach Hollins said. "We're just trying to go out and play and win. I mean, we want to make the playoffs, but you have to beat teams on your home court, and you have to close out games on your home court, you know, you've got to do positive things consistently before you can be a playoff team, and we haven't been consistent yet, all year long."

Quarter by quarter summary:

First quarter ... The Nets turned the ball over three times in three minutes and went down 9-3 during that span. The lackadaisical play continued throughout the quarter. Brooklyn shot 6-of-22 in the quarter and a horrid 14% by the rim. Brook Lopez gave them eight points off the bench, but Phoenix's 33.3% shooting kept the Nets alive. The teams were tied at 21 apiece in a very defensive-savvy quarter.

Second quarter ... The poor shooting from Brooklyn continued through the rest of the first half. They were 35.6% from the field and allowed Phoenix to score 29 points in the quarter behind 11 points from Markieff Morris. The Nets were 10-of-11 from the free throw line and 4-of-9 from three, while Phoenix was 0-for-13 from three.

Score at the half: Suns 50, Nets 46.

Third quarter ... The Nets took their biggest lead of the night after Bojan Bogdanovic nailed three three-pointers in a row to put Brooklyn up 75-69 in the late stages of the third. It helped propel a 14-2 Brooklyn run that put the up 80-69 by quarter's end. They outscored the Suns 34-19 in the quarter, despite the 39% shooting from the floor. Phoenix was still 0-for-17 from three.

Fourth quarter ... The Nets were up by 15 with 5:45 remaining, but Phoenix went on a 16-2 run to tie the game at 92 apiece with 41.3 seconds left. A typical Nets collapse. The game was tied at 92 apiece with 11 seconds and Nets ball. Jarrett Jack did took his usual top of the key jumper but missed and the game was headed to overtime.

OT: The Nets were outscored 16-8 in the overtime period and Brandon Knight delivered the dagger.

Final score: Suns 108, Nets 100.

For more on the Phoenix Suns, check them out at Bright Side Of The Sun.

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