Brooklyn Comes On Late But Can’t Close Out Cavs
As each game passes, more and more are we getting an opportunity to see just what kind of team the Brooklyn Nets are going to be during the 2018-19 season.
On a six-game losing streak, the Nets hoped that a matchup with a team they dominated during the first month of the season would get them back on a winning track.
The Brooklyn Nets showed fight, but they came up short in a 99-97 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night to drop their seventh consecutive game.
After a go-ahead dunk by Alec Burks with 3.2 seconds remaining, Spencer Dinwiddie’s turnaround 3-pointer off an inbounds as time expired fell well short.
The rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers won for the third time in their past seven games and snapped a four-game losing skid.
Unlike the team the Brooklyn Nets faced back on October 24th, the Cleveland Cavaliers were a scrappy and determined bunch on Monday night.
Jordan Clarkson guided the Cavaliers with 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench as Cleveland avenged a earlier 102-86 thumping by the Brooklyn Nets.
Tristan Thompson continued his strong roll with 19 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland.
For much of the season, the Brooklyn Nets ability to guard the paint on a night-by-night basis has been up and down, and recently they have endured a stretch of inconsistency in keeping teams from scoring at the rim.
That’s exactly where the game was won in the paint as the Cleveland Cavaliers asserted their will in getting to the basket and attempting easier shots.
38 of Cleveland’s 56 first half points were in the paint, a disastrous number allowed for a team fighting to keep their season from being unsalvageable.
An uncontested putback dunk by Tristan Thompson with 1:15 to go after the Nets had rallied to trim Cleveland’s lead to two points and a uncontested dunk at the rim by Alec Burks to give Cleveland the go-ahead basket highlighted their woes.
Brooklyn went on to allow 58 points in the paint to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
D’Angelo Russell scored 30 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists, but it was a high volume night for Russell, who went 13 for 31 from the field.
The Brooklyn Nets, who fell to 8-17 on Monday, failed get much out of others in their starting lineup besides Spencer Dinwiddie’s 18 points as Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Allen Crabbe combined to shoot 2 for 14 from the field.
Brooklyn’s propensity to hoist shots from distance is another aspect of the game that cost them in a game they ended up losing by two points as they shot 10 for 40 from downtown.
Rodions Kurucs, who had a strong game in limited minutes on Saturday night for Brooklyn, tied the game at 97-97 after an offensive rebound, capping a 15-4 Brooklyn run. He finished with 12 points and four rebounds in 14 minutes.
The Brooklyn Nets will continue their three-game homestand when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
Is it a lack of talent hurting the Nets right now or execution? Leave your comments below!