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Orlando drops a Brooklyn Nets record-worst 139 points in rout

By Anthony Puccio
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Nets saw Aaron Gordon dunking and must have thought it was NBA All-Star Weekend with the way they played defense.

The Nets front office continued with its auditioning plan and decided to rest Thaddeus Young and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in attempt to give some of the other guys a chance to step in.

It didn't work.

Sitting two starters on a 21-win team, the Nets were absolutely crushed, 139-105, by the Magic in Orlando. The Nets allowed the home team to score 30+ points in all four quarters on 62 percent shooting. The loss completes Orlando's four-game sweep of the Nets this season.

Even worse, the total was the most points allowed in Brooklyn Nets history and the most points allowed in franchise since the 1992 Nets gave up 140 to Chicago, but that Bulls team had Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

The Magic gained momentum at the end of the first quarter and had a 25-point lead following a 16-2 run in the second.They followed up the first with a 41-point second quarter and led by 28 points at the half.

So dominant were the Magic that they had 25 assists in the first half while shooting 60 percent from the field. The Nets didn't even crack 20 assists on the night. Orlando continued the rout in the third and led by as many as 37 in the second half.

We're talking about an Orlando team that didn't have Nikola Vucevic, who averaged nearly 20 points in three previous match-ups with the Nets, typically having his day against Brook Lopez.

Turns out Disney, even without Vucevic, isn't very kind to Brook Lopez. His game was nowhere to be found, as he was held to five points and four turnovers in 15 minutes. Tony Brown sat him the entire second half.

Aaron Gordon (20 points, 9-of-11) electrified the crowd with two incredible dunks, while Evan Fournier (15 points) knocked down three 3-pointers. Elfrid Payton dished out 12 of Orlando's 40 assists on the night.

When asked what the Nets are playing for, Interim coach Tony Brown answered by saying, "Job security."

Job security for many...

Thomas Robinson got the start for Thaddeus Young and finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds on the night. Markel Brown had 11 points, while Shane Larkin had 10 and Wayne Ellington with 12 off the bench.

"Mentally, the mindset with the whole team -- myself included --€” guys are worried about there's not much time left, we're not fighting for anything," Thomas Robinson told reporters after the game.  "No knock on our team, because I'm here, but mentally it's tougher to keep fighting in games and showing up every night when things are going the way they are for us and the end of the season being so close. That's been a problem we've got to shake real quick.

Kudos to Sean Marks

Despite a 4-of-12 shooting night, Sean Kilpatrick scored in double figures for a 10th straight game. In 14 games with the Nets, Kilpatrick's averaged 14 points on 51.6% from the field, 44% from 3-point and 94% from the free throw line.

Last 3 games:

The Nets have given up an average of 119.6 points over the last three games with a win against Cleveland and then two straight losses against Miami and then Orlando. Guys look stuck in the motions and quite frankly, the Nets haven't even been an average defensive team. Cleveland revenge game on Thursday!

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