When these Nets lose, they lose BIG

Death, taxes and blowout losses. Welcome to the new reality for the new-look Nets in the second half of the 2022-23 NBA season.

The Nets fell to 34-28 with Wednesday’s 142-118 loss to the Knicks. They now have a 2-6 record in games that followed the Feb. 9 trade deadline and have lost four games in a row — with another expected loss looming against the Celtics on Friday.

More concerning than the number of losses, however, is the nature of defeat.

The Nets profile as an above-average defensive team, but there is a clear drop off from the names on paper to the product on the floor.

That’s because for all the length, athleticism and defensive prowess the Nets gained in the trades that sent Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving out West, they haven’t been able to generate enough stops.

The Nets have given up 30 or more points in a quarter in 12 of the 16 quarters they’ve played since the All-Star break. The Nets also allowed the Knicks to score 27 and 28 points in the opening two quarters Wednesday. They have been blown out in four of their last six games and came back from down 18, only to lose on a Trae Young buzzer beater in Atlanta on Sunday.

There’s even more data suggesting the Nets are worse defensively than meets the eye. They entered Wednesday night giving up 122 points per 100 possessions, good for the NBA’s third-worst defensive rating behind only the Trail Blazers and Rockets, who own the NBA’s worst record.

On Tuesday, they couldn’t control Giannis Antetokounmpo, an understandable shortcoming given his status as one of the best players in basketball. Wednesday night, however, they gave up 142 points against the Knicks. By the time the numbers settle, the Nets could own the worst defensive rating in all of basketball since the trade deadline.

Compounding matters for a Nets team struggling to string together stops is the pressure to retain playoff standing — along with a strong remaining schedule.

The Nets were already behind the Knicks in the standings. If they fall anywhere from seventh to 10th, they will have to play in a sudden-death Play-In Tournament to earn their playoff seeding.

That’s only if the Nets don’t fall to 11th, and they way they have come out of the All-Star break, an extended losing streak is on the table.