The Nets dropped their fourth straight game on Monday, defeated by Cooper Flagg and their own sloppiness.
Their start was slow. Their shots weren’t good. Their defense was remorseful.
Add it all up, and the Nets suffered a 113-105 loss to Dallas before 18,632 at the American Airlines Center in a game that had lottery implications — and was a stark reminder of how important that lottery can be.
After resting the night before, Michael Porter Jr. returned with a game-high 28 points on 6-for-10 shooting from deep and nine rebounds. But no other Net mustered more than 14, as they shot just 9-for-37 from three-point range.
Meanwhile, Flagg, the 2025 top overall pick, had 27 points and five assists. The Nets doubled him, but their rotations were too slow and sloppy. The rookie even shook off a twisted ankle in the third and made big plays in the fourth.
“He was exceptional,” Jordi Fernández said of Flagg. “I’m sure it will be a lot of fun for many fans to watch. The sky is the limit for this kid.”
When the Nets doubled Flagg, he continued to find Naji Marshall, who scored 12 of his 22 in the fourth quarter.
And even after the Nets fell behind by double digits in the first quarter and 14 in the second, Porter hit a 3 to pull them within 96-93 midway through the fourth. But they were outscored 17-12 the rest of the way by a Mavs team without Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II.
“[Flagg is] a very talented player. We tried to look at him differently just to get the ball out of his hands and get him to make quick decisions,” said Drake Powell, who scored 10 points in his second career start. “But ultimately we shot ourselves in the foot on defense in that last play.”
The Nets (11-26) are fifth in the lottery standings, 1 ½ games behind Washington. They are two ahead of Utah and Charlotte (pending Monday’s Hornets game) and 2 ½ ahead of the Mavs.
Day’Ron Sharpe (14 points, 12 rebounds) already had a double-double in 10:27 minutes in the first half, the fastest in the league this season. But the Nets were outscored 22-8 in transition and 22-11 after turnovers, without Egor Dëmin, Cam Thomas and Ziaire Williams.
The Nets trailed 63-49 before responding with a 9-0 run.
A midrange jumper from Porter capped the run and cut the deficit to five.
It was 93-90 after Nolan Traore found Noah Clowney for a layup, and three again after Traore spotted Porter for a 3.
But trailing 105-100 after a bucket-lister from Nic Claxton, Flagg took over in a 7-2 run. His steal and dunk, followed by his 3, made it 112-102 with 1:32 remaining.
“It ultimately comes down to defense,” Powell said. “Obviously, crunch time is a time when you have to tighten the screws on the little things. I don’t think we did that, and that led to the result.”
#Nets #clumsy #offense #match #Cooper #Flagg #Mavericks #fourth #straight #loss