DALLAS – The Nets fell short by a pair of fourth-quarter turnovers – and a second scorer – against the Mavericks, falling 119-111 on Friday night before 19,032 fans at the American Airlines Center.
The Nets shot just 6-for-21 overall and 2-for-9 from deep in the fourth quarter, being outscored 29-19 as their offense faded along the way.
The Nets (6-18) are sixth in lottery odds, now a half-game behind Oklahoma City (via the Clippers’ pick), Sacramento and Indiana, all tied for third.
Michael Porter Jr. had another big offensive night, pouring in 34 points on 12-for-20 shooting and 6-for-10 from 3-point range.
The tanking Nets’ record will certainly keep him out of the All-Star Game, but he’s been playing at an All-Star level since Cam Thomas went down in early November.
Friday marked a fourth straight game in which Porter scored 33 points, tying Kevin Durant and James Harden for the team record. Rookie Danny Wolf came off the bench with 17 points and seven rebounds, going 3-for-3 from deep.
But it wasn’t enough.
The Nets couldn’t stop Anthony Davis in the second half, and couldn’t stop Cooper Flagg at all. Davis had 20 of his 24 points after halftime, while Flagg didn’t look like a rookie with 22 points, eight assists and five boards.
It was a rough night on the tank route. Washington won with 2:25 to go, Charlotte led with 3:08 to go and Indiana led with 4:22 to play. They all ultimately lost, leaving Brooklyn unable to make up ground.
Trailing 65-59 after Davis found Max Christie for a three-pointer with 28.7 seconds left in the first half, the Nets went on a 19-8 run that included the break.
Noah Clowney’s 3-pointer off a feed from Terance Mann put Brooklyn ahead 70-68. And Porter closed the run from the outside.
His budding partnership with Nic Claxton (14 points, 10 boards) continued, with the center feeding him with a handoff for a 3-pointer and a 78-73 cushion with 7:49 left in the third.
Brooklyn gave up six unanswered to give the lead back, but Clowney’s steal and layup with two seconds left in the third put them ahead 92-90 heading into the fourth.
It was still 101-99 after Claxton’s free throws with 7:44 to go. But four straight misses led to a quick 7-0 blitz by Dallas.
Brandon Williams’ finger roll made it 106-99 Mavericks with 6:13 to go and Brooklyn never led again.
The Nets pulled within a point when Wolf bullied in for a layup that cut the deficit to 108-107 with 3:49 to play. But they didn’t get any closer because they couldn’t buy a bucket when they needed it most.
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