Sean Kilpatrick, a spark off the bench, scores a career-high 25 points in Nets loss

Tonight, the Nets hosted the Charlotte Hornets at the Barclays Center. Coming into the game, the Hornets have held the Nets winless in the series this season. A win for Brooklyn would not only be their first against Charlotte this season but would also end a two-game losing streak. What would also be a first was Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s return to the Nets lineup, his first appearance after missing 50 games with a fractured right ankle.

Part of the Nets’ strategy would be to contain Hornets guard Kemba Walker which proved successful as he was held to two points in the first half. The Nets offense sputtered as Brooklyn had a field goal percentage of 35.3% and turned over the ball ten times leading to eight Hornets points. Although Brooklyn struggled from the field, the team went to the free throw line twelve times versus two times for Charlotte. At half-time, Charlotte had the lead 46-36.

The Hornets maintained their ten-point lead until the 3:30 mark when Nets guard Shane Larkin’s three-pointer cut the lead to single digits. Nets guard Sean Kilpatrick, who normally provides a spark off the bench, did just that by completing a three-point play after driving to the basket and getting fouled. Hornets lead was cut to four. The energy of both the Barclays Center and the Nets heightened as Brooklyn locked down on defense.

The fourth quarter began with a three-point Charlotte lead and it quickly turned into a battle of the point guards as Shane Larkin and Hornets guard, Jeremy Lin, went back and forth scoring points for their respective teams. The Nets hot streak would end as their turnovers disrupted the rhythm of the offense and created scoring opportunities for the Hornets. The Nets found themselves down by 11. When the Nets needed a jolt of electricity, Sean Kilpatrick answered the call. His two three-pointers followed by a thunderous dunk by Hollis-Jefferson cut the lead to three. Unfortunately, the Nets couldn’t capitalize on scoring opportunities in the waning moments of the game and fell to the Hornets 105-100. Brook Lopez scored 29 points and Kilpatrick had a career-high 25 points.

Sergey Karasev comes up big with a career-high 17 points to help Nets

On Thursday evening, the Brooklyn Nets hammered the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-95 and then picked up its second consecutive win last evening against another playoff-bound team, the Indiana Pacers 120-110.

Initially, with Brook Lopez not playing his best for most of the first three quarters against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday evening, the Nets looked a bit lethargic; not falling off the cliff lethargy, but a beat behind.

Leading the Nets by as many as 14 in the first half and then by 10 early in the fourth quarter, the Pacers dominated until Lopez got his groove back and took control.

Lopez had only scored nine points by the end of the third quarter and with fire in his belly, he scored 14 points in the last stanza for a total of 23 points for the night. Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 points. However, the surprise Brooklyn Nets double-digit point scorer of the night was Sergey Karasev.

Karasev, who was rumored to want off the Nets and possibly the NBA altogether, had a big night. Making the most of his starting minutes (25:44), Karasev scored a career-high 17 points, seven boards, four assists, and two steals.

In a postgame interview, Karasev with humility deflected credit from himself and heaped praise on his teammates, Brook Lopez and Bojan Bogdanovic.

"Bojan hit a big three and Brook played a great fourth quarter," Karasev said. "Everyone was touching the ball on the court. Everybody looked pretty good today and when we moved the ball we looked pretty good, like a team."

Sean Kilpatrick, who recently was called up from the D-League and received a multi-year contract from the Nets, and Markel Brown contributed 14 and 11 points respectively off-the-bench for Nets. Kilpatrick, known as a scorer, surprised a few people with his defensive moves.

VIDEO: Sean Kilpatrick talks about his defensive play in his own words

Pacers’ starters Paul George led the Pacers with 27 points; Ian Mahinmi scored 18 points and George Hill added 17 points to round out the starters in double-digits.  C.J. Miles and Jordan Hill both chipped in 12 points each coming off the bench.

Unfortunately for the Indiana Pacers, its 120-110 loss to the Brooklyn Nets is the team’s first loss to a sub-.500 team since January 23rd. The Pacers are trying to hold on for a playoff spot.

The Brooklyn Nets, who are not playoff bound, finished off the Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday like it was fighting for an eighth playoff spot or home-court advantage. Nets starting guard Shane Larkin in a postgame interview talked about how the players are still sticking together and playing for each other even though the Nets are not playoff bound.

VIDEO: Brooklyn Nets guard Shane Larkin in his own words

The Nets visit Miami on Monday to face off against Dwyane Wade and former Nets player Joe Johnson and the rest of the Miami Heat.

Johnson hits 3-pointer at the buzzer; it stings the Nuggets and stuns the crowd

Instead of sending the Brooklyn faithful home with a comfortable win vs. the Denver Nuggets, Joe Johnson and co. elected to go the thrilling route. The savvy veteran coolly banked in a game-winning three with time expiring, on one leg, to defeat the Nuggets, 105-104. Prior to the shot, the Nets seemed to have shot themselves in the foot on their last possession.

With 45 seconds left in the 4th, Markel Brown turned the ball over looking for a cutting Johnson, who was moving towards the basket, on the baseline. The Nuggets intercepted and Kenneth Faried made the Nets pay by converting a tough layup defended by Shane Larkin, a mismatch, which gave the Nuggets a 104-102 lead, 1.3 secs left in the final quarter.

“I thought it was over,” Faried said regarding his go-ahead basket.

The Nets could've sulked, hung their heads and looked towards the next opponent but they didn't. They responded, and Johnson, like he's done for the majority of his career, hit another big shot.

“I didn’t think that thing had a chance when he (Joe Johnson) threw it up, but shooters are going to shoot and they’re going to make big shots,” said Faried who finished with a double-double, in 22 points and 13 rebounds. “I mean, he’s been an All-Star. He’s known for making big shots like that, and he did it tonight against us.”

The game had all the makings of what could've been a tough Nets home loss because they led and were in control in the first half. The Nets hit nine of their first 11 shots, up 19-11 with under six min left in the 1st quarter, led by Thaddeus Young who scored 10 points during the stretch.

They went up by as many as 16 in the second until Faried led a Denver comeback with eight points in the final four minutes of the second that closed the gap to six points, 49-55 at the break. In the second half of the game, the Nets and Nuggets traded baskets continuously and we all knew that at the pace both teams were competing at, an exciting finish was expected. Although the Nets won the game, execution down the stretch continued to hurt the Nets.

In the final seven minutes of the game, the Nets committed five costly turnovers which allowed the Nuggets to keep the game within distance and even take the lead to which Brown referenced turnovers.

“We tried to run a couple of plays and for whatever reason we still make poor decisions down the stretch, and we are still trying to work on that,” Brown said post-game.

Brooklyn’s interim head coach Tony Brown mentioned two plays down the stretch involving Brook Lopez (16 points) and Johnson (12 points) where the team tried to feed their best players the ball and on both occasions ended up in the visitor’s hands.

“So those situations hopefully we learn from because if we can get a shot, I like our chances in making them but we just can’t do it when we give away the ball like that, Coach Brown said.”

Off the bench, the Nets received healthy contributions from Markel Brown, the team’s 2nd leading scorer for this game, recording 19 points; and Bojan Bogdanovic who chipped in 12 points. The buzzer-beater won the headlines but so did Nets rookie forward Chris McCullough.

McCullough (2015 1st round draft pick), who hasn’t played since January of 2015 when he tore his ACL-16 games into his collegiate career-checked into the Nets win early in the second quarter and scored his first NBA basket on a mid-range jumper, according to ESPN.com.

“It just felt good to be out there, playing my game, doing what I do, block shots, rebound on the floor,” McCullough said who added two points, two rebounds one block and a steal. “Just to finally hear my name called, it felt great.”

Emmanuel Mudiay, Denver’s 2015 lottery pick was a little sloppy. He flashed brilliance dishing eight assists but struggled with his shot, and totaled just seven points and turned the ball over four times too many. Mudiay showed the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon exactly what they are missing at the point, with 15 points and nine assists but against the Nets, couldn’t mirror his performance offensively.

“He was only 3-10 from the field,” said Nuggets head coach Michael Malone. “He had eight assists and four turnovers, so he did some good things.”

Gary Harris his backcourt mate, played well, totaling 17 points and former Knick, Danilo Gallinari led all Nuggets with 24 points. The Nets will have a day off to enjoy the win and then will get back to work hosting the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson forces that kept the Nets in Abeyance

It’s Monday night, the first day of February and the Brooklyn Nets have just lost three consecutive games, including one home game. However, still fresh in the home crowd’s memory at the Barclays Center, is the Nets stunning upset win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, one of the best teams in the NBA.

The crowd at the Barclays Center was hopeful to the end, because overall, the Nets were playing fairly well. However, not well enough to overcome the forces of Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson and the rest of the Detroit Pistons. It was close, but the Pistons still beat the Brooklyn Nets 105-100.

Brook Lopez, aka The Big Guy”, worked his game, scoring 27 points for the Nets in addition to his five rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Andrea Bargnani put up 18 points and four rebounds off the bench, while starting guard Wayne Ellington contributed 11 points.

The Nets led 57-54 at the half and was just three points (78-75) behind the Pistons at the end of the third quarter.

“We moved the ball, played at a high pace, got up and down, got a lot of shots for AB (Andrea Bargnani) in the mid-range, Markel (Brown) and Bogie (Bojan Bogdanovic) on the three,” said Nets backup point guard Shane Larkin on what the team did to get back into the game in the third and fourth quarter.

But the guys in Black and White couldn’t grab the momentum in the fourth stanza. Could it be that Nets interim head coach Tony Brown changed the game’s momentum when he pulled Larkin out of the game at 6:40 in the fourth with the Nets down by one (90-89)and put in Donald Sloan?

Larkin was making his presence felt; dishing out a career-high 14 assists (previous high: eight assists done five times). He also chipped in eight points and a team-high six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

Larkin is in good company. The last five NBA players prior to Larkin to dish out 14-plus assists in a game in 23 or fewer minutes were: Russell Westbrook (3/4/14 vs. Philadelphia); Manu Ginobili (3/1/13 vs. Sacramento); Rod Strickland (4/23/95 for Portland vs. Golden State); Larry Drew (1/6/91 Los Angeles Lakers v. Golden State); and Muggsy Bogues (4/12/89 for Charlotte at New York). The dates indicate that 14-plus assists in 23 or fewer minutes by a player coming off the bench is no easy feat.

Drummond led the Pistons with 21 points and 18 rebounds and dropped the tie-breaking basket on a dunk with 1:30 remaining.

"I didn't do a great job with Drummond. He got some easy ones," Lopez said. "I tried to wrap him up at the end of the game, making him earn it at the line. But it was something that was a focus tonight."

Jackson, who almost got pulled from the game because of leg cramps by Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy, scored 19 points. As a matter of fact, all Pistons starters scored in double digits: Ersan Ilyasova (16); Kentavious Caldwell (16) and Marcus Morris (12).

Although the Pistons won, Coach Van Gundy was not happy with his team’s performance. Van Gundy can be heard in his own words here.

Despite Nets’ loss to Trailblazers, Donald Sloan and Thomas Robinson injected much-needed energy

On Wednesday night, the Brooklyn Nets caught a break when Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony didn’t suit up. They took advantage of the Knicks lacking their star player and defeated their surging rivals, 110-104, their second game since general manager Billy King and head coach Lionel Hollins were relieved of their duties. On Friday night against the Portland Trailblazers, the Nets weren’t afforded the same luck.

Damian Lillard, a star in his own right, suited up and showed the Nets exactly how a star manages his game. Lillard poured in a game-high 33 points, with 10 assists leading the Blazers to an 116-104 win over the lowly Nets. Lillard scored throughout the game but did most of his best work when it counted the most.

In the 4th quarter, Lillard scored more points than he scored in any other quarter with 14 points and made big plays down the stretch that inevitably sealed the Nets to their fate. With just under eight minutes left in the 4th, Lillard drained a jump shot that cut, what was a brief four-point Nets lead, 92-88 to 92-90. Minutes later, Lillard hit a three to give the Blazers a one-point, 93-92 advantage with a little over seven minutes left till the end of regulation.

“I’m just in one of those grooves where the game is just in flow,” Lillard said. “I just feel good out there and the way we’re playing as a team only makes it easier.”

Lillard’s three would spark a 10-2 Blazers run over the next three minutes featuring five points by Lillard and a three by Allen Crabbe who finished with 19 points. The Blazers laid down the ground work to coast till the buzzer sounded and once again, the Nets tasted defeat. Under interim head coach Tony Brown, the Nets have played inspiring basketball, so far, and tonight was no different.

The Nets competed and were in this game. They gave themselves an opportunity to win but like the majority of their games this year, late game execution, whether it’s defending or scoring, continues to be the Nets biggest issue.

“Down the stretch, we just struggled defending.” Brown said post-game.

And the evidence is proven by the Blazers shooting 42 percent from three (15-35) and 50 percent from the field (47-93).

The Nets actually shot the same percentage from deep but only made eight threes and from the field, the Nets shot 44 percent. On a night where every starter for the Nets reached double-figures including two bench players, the Nets still came up short. Brook Lopez led all Nets players with 25 points and seven rebounds and Joe Johnson scored 15 points with four assists. The most encouraging performances came from Thomas Robinson and Donald Sloan.

Robinson gave the Nets the much-needed energy and fire the team lacked. He made the hustle plays on the boards and had some great moments, especially early in the fourth when Robinson scored five straight points which put the Nets up by four, 90-86, forcing a Blazers timeout with 9:18 left in the 4th.

“Thomas Robinson had a wonderful night,” Brown said. “His energy really helped us get back in the ballgame.”

Sloan on the other hand, gave the Nets great play from the lead guard position. The former Aggie almost posted a triple-double, 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and seemed to be the answer as the Nets starter going forward opposed to Shane Larkin who struggled all night long, finishing with two points.

There are a lot of things the Nets need after losing their G.M. and head coach all in the same week and recent reports state that the Nets are looking to fill the void. The Nets are linked to Bryan Colangelo and coach, Tom Thibodeau, known for running his players into the ground. In Thib, the Nets will have one of the best coaches in the NBA. They would have an identity, and that’s something worth investing in.

Brook Lopez won the battle of the brothers; Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the ghost of Joe Johnson returned

The Brooklyn Nets took advantage of New York Knicks minus forward Carmelo “Melo” Anthony on Wednesday night and beat the Knicks 110-104, snapping a season-high 10-game home losing streak. It was the Nets’ third straight home victory over the Knicks.

In a game with lots of story lines, first is Nets’ interim coach Tony Brown’s first victory overall. Brown inherited the interim coach position on Sunday when former Nets head coach Lionel Hollins lost his position.

Perhaps, the Nets going into this game believed that they could win, Melo or no Melo, considering they have won five of the last six games against the Knicks. Perhaps, it was a new head coach with a new philosophy and new demeanor, but the Nets seemed to play with more energy and more swagger.

Bojan Bogdanovic came off the bench in the first quarter on three-point fire; knocking down 3 three-pointers in three minutes 11 seconds of play. Overall, Bogdanovic scored 14 points and four rebounds in just under 23 minutes of playing time.

Nets center Brook Lopez won the battle of the brothers, as he was more productive than his brother Robin Lopez. In 29:32 minutes of play, Brook scored 20 points, five assists, and eight rebounds to Robin’s nine points and 12 rebounds in 30:40 minutes of play.

Brooklyn Nets forward Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Shane Larkin, who didn’t start in place of injured Jarrett Jack, put up 17 points, five assists, and two rebounds. Joe Johnson, who is still the subject of trade rumors and looked like the Joe Johnson of previous seasons, he made two key jumpers in the final 2 minutes and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Point guard Wayne Ellington chipped in 10 points, two assists, and two rebounds.

The electricity in the air at the Barclays Center was palpable. Celebrity row actually had celebrities. R&B singer Maxwell was in the house promoting his upcoming concert with rapper Nas. New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, who was cheered at the opening of the Barclays Center, was roundly booed; probably by disappointed Giants fans. Even former Knicks player Andrea Bargnani got booed, but surprisingly, not Shane Larkin another former Knick. At times, there was a battle of the fans, as Knicks fans made their presence known. Nets fans may have been outnumbered, but most of the evening, they were not shrinking violets.

"Games like this, it's going to help turn our fan base around," Brown said. "If we continue to play in this kind of fashion, we'll fill the seats, but we've got to show them first. It'll take time, but tonight was a good start."

In defeat, Knicks forward Derrick Williams came off the bench and led all scorers and tied his career high 31 points. Other Knicks players scoring in double digits were Arron Afflalo with 18 points; Jose Calderon added 16 points and wonder-kid Kristaps Porzingis, who shot just 5 for 17, chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"On nights like this when we don't have (Anthony), I can't have a shooting night like this," Porzingis said. "I've got to step up. I've got to score the ball more."

Looks like the stars aligned for the Nets.

Next up for the Nets will be the Portland Trailblazers on Friday.

Nets loss to Spurs comes one day after organizational shake-up

The San Antonio Spurs entered the Barclays Center in Brooklyn Monday night to take on the Brooklyn Nets with a seven-game winning streak since December 26th. On the other hand, the Nets, already without injured starting point guard Jarret Jack for the rest of the season and injured defensive player Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who is not scheduled to return until March, were now playing for the first time without Lionel Hollins as their head coach.

Hollins parted ways with the Nets organization yesterday and assistant coach Anthony Brown took the reigns as head coach for this contest and for the remainder of the season. One of Brown’s first decisions as head coach was to insert Wayne Ellington and Donald Sloan into the starting lineup.

Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge got off to a hot start by scoring ten straight points at the open of the contest, but the Nets limited the Spurs’ scoring opportunities by rebounding and capitalizing on fast break opportunities. Newly minted point guard Shane Larkin used his quickness to penetrate the defense to score points or to create scoring opportunities for open teammates. By being effective on both sides of the ball, the Nets kept the score close, trailing by seven points at halftime.

San Antonio extended its lead to 21 points by the end of the third quarter with a balanced attack aided by five offensive rebounds and allowing none for the Nets. The Spurs never relinquished the lead winning the game 106-79.

Brook Lopez won the battle of the centers, holding Tim Duncan to eight points for the evening while scoring a team-high 18 points. LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers with 25 points.

The Nets fell to 10-28 and Coach Brown offered this perspective for the rest of the season by stating “I think our guys’ mentality right now is pretty good, they want to get in, they want to work and you know try to use that to my advantage.”

The Nets drop 8th straight at home with 91-74 loss to Raptors

It’s a bit unsettling, but it appears that the Brooklyn Nets are in free-fall motion, losing their eighth straight home game against the Toronto Raptors. 91-74.

The Nets haven’t won at home since they played the 76ers on December 10; which is quite troubling. Also, the team’s 74 points are the lowest points scored all season. Somebody ring the alarm bells.

Toronto came into this game, having lost two games, but are still first in the Atlantic Division and tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with Atlanta. The game started off decently enough for the Nets, considering they are playing without Jarrett Jack and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. They ended the first quarter with only a seven-point deficit (24-17) and 4 of 7 shooting from behind the arc in the first half.

In a game that was tied three times and with three lead changes, it became increasingly clear that the Nets just didn’t have the firepower to keep it close even in defeat. Three Nets players scored in double digits, Brook Lopez led all scorers with 24 points and 13 boards; Bojan Bogdanovic, who is rumored to be on the trading block, scored 12 points, and Thaddeus Young chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds. Newly-minted starting point guard Shane Larkin put up nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Four bench players scored a total of 13 points.

Joe Johnson’s level of production has been dismal this season. He seems to have been missing in action in far too many games. At least this game, he had a stated reason for only scoring five points and two rebounds – a bruised left quad. Johnson was scoreless until hitting a 3-pointer in the third quarter.

On the other hand, the Raptors, a team that the Nets have matched pretty evenly in the last several years, bounced back from its two losses rather convincingly. Jonas Valanciunas returning from a broken finger lifted Toronto with his 22 points, 11 rebounds. Kyle Lowry added 17 points from field goal range, along with eight rebounds and six assists, and DeMar DeRozan appended 15.

Brooklyn Nets head coach Lionel Hollins summed up the Nets loss this way, “Their quickness just dominated. We couldn’t move the ball from side to side; they took away a lot of our ball movement. We had spurts where we were able to do it, but we weren’t able to do it consistently. We missed a lot of easy shots and it got us in a hole and then we battled back and in the second half they just kept grinding us out.”

With Jack out for the season, Hollis-Jefferson out until March, and Johnson providing minimal production, it’s going to be an ugly season for Brooklyn.

The Nets play Orlando on Friday.

Nets Offense Fails in the 4th Quarter; Johnson and Larkin Miss Key Shots

In the 4th quarter, with a little over a minute left until the end of regulation, Brooklyn Nets Joe Johnson and Shane Larkin missed back-to-back threes that would have cut what was a nine-point, 83-74 deficit to six. Even with a made shot, the Nets would still have had an uphill climb in capturing the win. However, the missed shots put a spotlight on the struggles the Nets have had this season in late-game offensive execution.

On Friday night, Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic each scored 20 points and handed the Nets an 83-77 loss, their ninth straight loss at home and 3rd straight to the Magic.

It was the Nets 3rd straight loss (10-26), losing seven of their last ten games while the Magic (20-17) snapped a four-game losing streak. Once again, making plays late when they matter the most, has doomed the Nets. With 6:48 left in the 4th quarter, Brook Lopez shot a floater off of a penetration feed from Larkin.

He missed, received his own rebound, fought against Vucevic and got a hook-shot to go, tying the contest at 68 all, two of his team-high 17 points. Following the bucket, the Nets were held scoreless from the field for the next five minutes. At the most critical juncture of the game, the Nets would miss their next three shots, commit two turnovers and worst of all, fail to stop Orlando’s youth movement.

Aaron Gordon and Oladipo took turns nailing the coffin, featuring two threes’ from Oladipo and four points from Gordon. Evan Fournier who scored 13 points also added a three in the midst of a 13-2 run until Thaddeus Young stopped the bleeding with the Nets second FG in 5 minutes. During the Magic’s run, Lopez connected on two free-throws while the Nets offense fell flat.

“…In the last quarter, we just couldn’t make a play, couldn’t make a shot and again we come away with a loss,” Nets head coach Lionel Hollins said post-game also claiming that he sounds like a broken record.

To begin the game, the Nets looked like the team that would eventually lose, falling to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter. In the second and third, the Nets found better results. They battled back by increasing their defensive pressure, got out in transition and shot 80 percent from the free-throw line.

They even led by five towards the end of the third and early in the fourth. But they couldn’t hold onto it and the credit goes to the Magic’s defense for not allowing the Nets to build a substantial advantage.

“Our defense got a little bit tighter,” Magic head coach Scott Skiles said following the win. “We were playing so hard on the defensive end that I felt it took a little juice out of our offense. We were getting it up the court a little too slow. The clock winding down on us, but we were able to make a couple of shots and you need to make those.”

According to Young who scored 11 points and nine rebounds, the Nets just have to make plays.

“We just have to execute. Execute, make shots,” Young said post-game. “We had great opportunities at the basket.”

Unfortunately, the Nets had trouble finishing their opportunities at the basket. Another reason why the Nets had trouble stopping Orlando was their 3-point percentages for this game. Oladipo, who led the Magic in made threes with four, and the rest of his team drained 13 threes of 27 attempts, good for 48 percent while the Nets could not match, shooting 31 percent from long-range and 39 percent in field goals.

After another game, another loss, the Nets are stuck asking about the same problems, and in the end, have nothing to show for it.

“It gets frustrating, but you have to keep continuing to push it, keep continuing to push it, keep continuing to play and keep trying take positives from these games, Young added.”

Until the Nets win the fourth quarter, nights like Friday night will continue to occur and it gets even tougher on Monday night when they host the Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs.

Celtics’ Crowder's Big Night Dooms Nets; Shane Larkin Stumbles in Starting Role in Jarrett Jack’s Absence

As the temperature drops in Brooklyn so has the climate surrounding the Brooklyn Nets. On Saturday in a win against the Boston Celtics, 100-97, the Nets lost their starting point guard Jarrett Jack for the remainder of the season, to a torn ACL which he suffered late in the third quarter. On a freezing Monday night in Brooklyn, the Boston Celtics took advantage of Jack’s absence and just added to what has become a miserable season for the Barclays Center’s only professional basketball club.

The Celtics' Jae Crowder and all of his dreads scored a team-high 25 points and six rebounds, leading the C’s to a 103-94 victory over the Nets, winning the other half of the home-and-home series. Crowder started his big night as early as the first quarter, scoring 14 points which helped facilitate the Celtics (19-15) in creating distance, ending the first 12 mins of the game with a 37-22 lead. Despite his strong start, the play’s Crowder made towards the end of the game hurt the Nets (10-24) the most and proved to be the deciding factor in the games result.

When the Nets made their attempts to threaten the Celtics dominance in this game, as well as their chance at winning, Crowder answered the bell. Joe Johnson, who did a little bit of everything scoring 21 points with six rebounds and four assists, drained a big eight-foot jump shot with three mins left in the 4th which cut the Celtics lead to five, 90-85. In response, Crowder sinks a long-range bomb, increasing the C’s lead to eight, 93-85 with a little under three mins left in the final quarter.

“He’s hit big shots for us all year,” Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens said reflecting on Crowder. “He’s not afraid of the moment and he stepped up.”

A minute later, the Nets would find themselves needing a stop, trailing by six, 95-89 and there was Crowder again, making the Nets pay-converting a driving layup and an and-1 to put the C’s up for good 98-89. And for the exclamation point, the Celtics next two points highlighted Marcus Smart, who drove to the rim with a minute left in the 4th and added a beautiful-acrobatic-reverse layup, avoiding Brook Lopez, which put the C’s up by nine, 100-91.

Late game execution continues to be a problem for the Nets but there is no doubt that Lionel Hollins and co. did not get off to the start that they would have hoped to. In the 1st quarter alone, the Nets committed eight turnovers which led to 10 Celtics points.

“We turned the ball over a lot, and that got them out on the open court kind of playing the game at their pace and so, obviously, it’s tough to put yourself in that position and come back from it,” Brook Lopez said post-game, scoring 19 points to the Nets cause.

Fortunately for the Celtics, their strong start was enough to propel them to the win, as their first quarter alone was more points than the Nets could ever rival throughout their entire game. To their credit, the Nets did outscore the C’s in every quarter following the 1st, but the damage was done.

“We just couldn’t make enough plays to get all the way back,” a disappointed Hollins said post-game. Hollins also does not want to associate the Nets lack of ball-control to the loss of Jack, stating that “there is always a rationalization for anything bad that happens” and simply, “we have to keep working and get better.”

In Jack’s place, Shane Larkin assumed the starting role and didn’t have the most dazzling performance like his counterpart, Isaiah Thomas, who added 19 points and seven assists, the second leading scorer on the C’s.

Larkin struggled to create for himself and for his teammates, ending his night with four points, two assists while criticizing his lack of aggressiveness to his low production.

“I’ve just got to go out there and play my game and stop thinking so much and just play,” Larkin said post-game. “I’ve shown I can do it. I’ve had great games this year, I’ve had not so good games this year. I’ve just got to stay being aggressive and just be consistent for my team and it’ll be better for sure.”

Larkin’s comments could be the theme of the Nets profile as a team this year. One of the few bright spots on the Nets continues to be the play of Thaddeus Young who chipped in a double-double, 23 and 15 rebounds to lead all Nets scorers. Jack's injury will force the Nets to take turns being the playmaker, especially in the backcourt, which could result in Johnson handling the ball a little more and tonight was a perfect example of that.

The Nets will host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm.