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'Sounds' like a blowout: Nets destroyed by Memphis, 109-90

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By Anthony Puccio
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Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Talk about feast or famine.

We went from a Joe Johnson game-winning buzzer beat to... this.

The Nets had won two of their last three heading into this matchup, but were destroyed, 109-90, despite the loss of Marc Gasol who was diagnosed with a broken foot earlier Wednesday.

Johnson, who hit the game-winner in Monday's win over the Nuggets, had his streak of 937 games with a field goal snapped in the blowout. The last time Johnson was held without a field goal was December 6, 2003 when he was 22..

"I think we fell backwards in regards to getting set up to make a catch or make a pass into the post and just the little difficult situations, which we did tonight," Tony Brown said why the Nets committed to many turnovers. Brown went on to later say, the night was a setback.

Yup.

The boo-birds were out and about as the Nets will head into the All-Star Break with a 14-40 record. They'll need to go 27-1 in the second half to finish with a .500 record.

To the game we go...

The Nets didn't play their best basketball in the first half, but it was certainly far from the worst. They only trailed by five at halftime, despite Brook Lopez and Wayne Ellington combining for 32 of the 45 points.

And then the third quarter happened. The Grizzlies started the quarter on a 20-5 run as the Nets had no sense of an offense. The bench, which was been pretty atrocious this year, didn't score until the four-minute mark of the third.

They were outscored 39-18 and trailed by 26 heading into the fourth quarter. Game over.

The positives? Well there weren't many. Chris McCullough scored his first points during garbage time in the fourth quarter,  a mid-ranger and smooth three-pointer. Markel Brown scored 10 points after averaging 17 points in the prior two, continuing his hot shooting from deep, going 3-of-5 to keep his February three point percentage above 60 percent.

Thankfully the Nets have Brook Lopez to save even further embarrassment. Lopez finished with 20 points, while Wayne Ellington chipped in 18, Bojan Bogdanovic 11 and Thaddeus Young 10.

How'd it get so bad?

Well, the Grizzlies came up with 15 steals that led to 22-Brooklyn turnovers. They scored 25 points off those turnovers and it put the Nets in a deeper hole than they were already in.

Mike Conley, the soon-to-be free agent, finished with 20 points, while Jeff Green put home 18 off the bench.

Still, we'll try to keep things optimistic around here, and for whatever it's worth, the Nets have a few things to keep an eye out for the remainder of the season. Emphasize a few.

  • The first being Chris McCullough -- who made his second appearance in the NBA since tearing his ACL. He had some miscues in the first half, but hit his first three with that flawless stroke in the second.
  • The second, if you care about these sort of things, is the new practice facility set to open on February 17.
  • And third, but certainly not least... the return of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson sometime soon.
  • Finally, Markel Brown is still shooting better than 60 percent from deep this month. After a 3-of-5 outing Wednesday, Brown's three point percentage in February is 64.3 percent. Not bad for a guy who could only hit 22.6 percent before January 1.

"You never know what can happen around trade deadlines and around these types of situations," Thaddeus Young said about whether the roster will look the same after the deadline. "You just have to prepare for each and every thing that comes."

Enjoy All-Star Weekend and watch for our guy Bojan Bogdanovic in the Rising Stars Challenge.

For more on the Memphis Grizzlies, check them out at Grizzly Bear Blues.

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