Nets compete, but LeBron & Co. too much
The Nets, with the NBA’s worst record, still are searching and shuffling, trying to find lineups and combinations that work.
They tried yet another Friday night. And while they were far more competitive than during last month’s meeting with (and beating by) the Cavaliers, the end result was the same — a 116-108 loss to LeBron James and the de- fending champions at Barclays Center.
James had 36 points for the East-leading Cavaliers (27-8), while West Orange, N.J., native Kyrie Irving added 32 after missing the previous three games with a tight hamstring.
The Nets — who started Spencer Dinwiddie at point guard and used their 14th different starting lineup of the season — fell behind by 24 and fell to 8-27.
“We can’t put ourselves in that position, that’s really it,” said Brook Lopez, who had 17 points but just one rebound and five turnovers. “Teams are going to make runs, we can’t stop that. But they’ve got to be shorter runs.”
It was a better effort than the Nets’ 119-99 loss in Cleveland on Dec. 23, when they fell behind by 46. Bojan Bogdanovic, held scoreless in that game, had a team-high 23 on Friday while rookie Caris LeVert had career-highs of 19 points and five assists.
“I love competition,’’ LeVert said. “I’m from Ohio as well, so I grew up watching [James] play a lot, so that’s someone I’ve wanted to play against since I was younger. So I just tried to compete.”
But, as feisty as the Nets’ defense was, they couldn’t keep the Cavs off the foul line. Brooklyn more than doubled Cleveland’s fouls (34-16), and put the Cavs on the stripe 43 times to their 19. Only Tristan Thompson’s incompetence at the line (4of-13, missing his first nine) helped keep it close.
“Night in, night out, the referees do a great job. And quite honestly, I’ve got to do a better job,” said Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, who was hit with a technical in the waning minutes of the second half. “Like that technical, I have to do a better job. I have to hold myself accountable. It’s not changing anything.”
Brooklyn trailed 79-55 after Thompson made a pair of free throws with 3:50 left in the third. The Nets mounted a furious 25-7 run, climbing within 86-80 on LeVert’s 3-pointer with 9:55 to play. But that’s as close as they got as Irving scoring every Cavs point in a 12-2 run to kill the Nets’ rally.