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As Nets evaluate players, losses continue to pile up...

By Anthony Puccio
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

I can picture Danny Ainge salivating every time he hears the Nets "evaluating" players.

The Nets front office continued with its auditioning plan and decided to rest Brook Lopez and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in attempt to give some of the other guys a chance to step in. Also, playing four games in five nights may have played a role, particularly with RHJ still on minutes restriction.

The Nets used a similar tactic on Tuesday night when they surrendered 139 points to the Orlando Magic.

In other words, it didn't work ... at least in terms of wins and losses. .

The Nets, playing on the first leg of a back-to-back, were destroyed for the second straight game, 107-87, by the Cavaliers this time in Cleveland, Thursday night. The Nets struggled mightily without Lopez and Hollis-Jefferson.

The Nets defeated Cleveland a week back with a 101-94 score, holding LeBron scoreless and the Cavs to 12 points in the fourth quarter. They were tight most of the way, but the Nets eventually pulled away.

The script was a little different this time around. The Nets chopped a 10-point Cavs lead down to three, but the momentum swung right back in Cleveland's direction as they finished the first half on a 27-6 run and led by 24.

They never looked back from that point.

The Nets missed their first 11 3-pointers and finished  4-of-21. They shot 37 percent from the floor and committed 17 turnovers.

In the last eight quarters, the Magic and Cavs put up tallies of 32, 41, 30, 36, 29, 34, 26 and 18. That's not too good.

Meanwhile, LeBron James reminded us that he still has some of that ‘King' in him despite that Stephen Curry has stolen the headlines this season ... and rightfully so. James went off for 24 points, 11 assists but SIX turnovers.

As for Brooklyn, the weapons were limited but at least they had Thaddeus Young, who had a solid night with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Other than Young, Bojan Bogdanovic (14 points) Shane Larkin (13 points, 8 assists), Thomas Robinson (10 points) and Donald Sloan (11 points) were the other Nets in double figures.

Sean Kilpatrick's 10-game streak of scoring in double figures was snapped after a 2-for-9 shooting night.

Some basic evaluations for Sean Marks...

  • Robinson logged 23 minutes and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
  • Henry Sims, who started in place of Lopez, had four points, five rebounds and two steals in nine minutes. He's on his second 10-day contract.
  • Wayne Ellington, who also started (in place of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson) was held scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting.
  • Markel Brown scored six points on 3-of-9 shooting.
  • Chris McCullough, looking better each game, scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds in 20 minutes, the most he's played this season.
  • And of course, Willie Reed didn't log any minutes until the six minute mark of the fourth quarter. He's apparently still in the dog house.

Mo' evaluating, Mo' losses.

Side note: We'd like to wish Producer of Brooklyn Nets basketball for YES, Frank DiGraci, a very Happy Birthday.

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Next up: Friday night at New York Knicks.

For more on the Cleveland Cavaliers, check them out at Fear The Sword.

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