Nets hit skids after letting guard down

NEW ORLEANS — The Nets’ defense has fallen off a cliff the past two weeks, taking the rest of their game with it.

Now, heading into Friday’s game at Miami, a desperate coach Kenny Atkinson is willing to consider any solution, from lineup changes to even demanding a film session on what should be a day off after back-to-backs. Such is his team’s malaise, having lost seven of eight and in very real danger of a ruinous 0-5 road trip.

“I’m disappointed after a good defensive effort against San Antonio, that we didn’t do it [against New Orleans],” Atkinson said. “So now we go to Miami and hopefully we’ll all look in the mirror and say, ‘How can we do this better? How can we be more consistent?’ Especially defensively.”

Defense has been the primary culprit in the Nets’ eight-game funk. Their starters have repeatedly come out flat and left them in a deficit, a trend they need to fix.

“We’ve got to look at that first group and why we’re [coming out flat]. We have to look at it,” Atkinson said. “Do we have to inject some more energy in there? I’m not sure what that looks like, but it’s something we’ve got to look at.”

The Nets have used the same lineup for the past six games, and 11 of the past 12. But with the starters struggling, could that change against the Heat?

“Yeah, absolutely,” Allen Crabbe said. “We’re supposed to be the guys who lead the team, and if we’re not doing that we’re putting ourselves in a bad position. We just have to be better, plain and simple. There’s no ifs, ands or buts. No excuses. We just simply have to be better. It starts with the starting five. Our energy wasn’t what it needed to be to start the game.

“We’ve got to figure it out. Being on losing streaks like this isn’t fun. As a group, collectively, we’ve got to just come together and find ways to pull out these wins, find out how we can win games. [Going] 1-7 isn’t fun. It’s not the first time we’ve been on a losing streak. It seems like we win one and then go in the other direction.”

Technically, they won three of four and then promptly headed straight down. In the eight games since, they’ve allowed an NBA-worst 49.9 percent shooting, surrendering over 51.3 percent five times.

And since beating Washington at home, they’ve lost three straight away from Brooklyn. With Miami (18-16) and Boston (Eastleading 28-10) the last two games on this road trip, they could easily return to Barclays Center on New Year’s Day off a winless five-game swing.

“We’re almost halfway through the season, we’ve got to figure it out,” Crabbe said. “We’ve got to bring it every night. If we’re not doing that, we’re going to keep getting the same results we’ve been getting.

“It starts with [the starters]. We’re supposed to be the guys that start the game and bring the energy.”

Crabbe’s struggles might be the most pronounced. The Nets took on the three years, $58 million left on his contract to provide outside shooting. But after finishing second in the league in 3-point percentage last season at 44.4 percent, he has fallen to 36.7 percent this season — his worst since 2014-15.