NEW YORK _ The Nets haven't exactly shown their good side on the back side of back-to-back games.
They arrived at Barclays Center Saturday night having fallen in the second game of a back-to-back three times in three tries, all on the road. And then they made it 0-for-4.
After winning in Washington Friday night, their third victory in the four games on the front side, the Nets constructed a 15-point cushion over the Los Angeles Clippers in the second quarter and still led by 13 about midway through the third before imploding.
They came from ahead to lose, 127-119, despite two double-doubles _ a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds from Jarrett Allen, and 23 points and 10 assists from D'Angelo Russell.
"Listen, I thought we competed," coach Kenny Atkinson said after the Nets dropped to 7-10 overall. "I thought we played hard. We gave them a darn good game. We're just not at that point where we could get over the hump. Obviously, frustrated on the back-to-back. That's the next step for us ... We had our opportunities. We couldn't close it out."
Five 3-pointers and 28 points by Danilo Gallinari, and 27 points and eight rebounds by Tobias Harris, helped the surprising Clippers win their fourth straight and improve to 10-5. Montrezl Harrell chipped with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
"We don't have that luxury to say, 'Hey, go win the game for us,' to the one guy," coach Doc Rivers said. "That's what's so refreshing about watching this team play. Every night there seems like there's a different guy that steps forward for us, and that's what we have to be."
The Nets were clinging to a 110-108 edge when the Clippers took charge, beginning a 9-0 run. Harrell dunked twice, Gallinari buried a 3 and Harrell hit two free throws for a 117-110 advantage with 2:59 left.
"We just kept fighting, kept fighting," Harris said.
Allen got inside for a dunk of his own to get it down to five. Gallinari made two from the line before Russell nailed the last of his five 3s with 2:09 left to get it down to four.
But Gallinari countered with a 17-foot jumper and Harrell put in an offensive rebound, making it a 123-115 game with 1:10 remaining. Brooklyn couldn't get closer than six from there.
"The first three quarters, we played great," said Allen Crabbe, who showed signs of breaking out of his shooting slump by going 5-for-11, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range, on the way to scoring 15 points. "I just feel like that last quarter, they out-competed us."
The Nets had built a 51-36 advantage in the second quarter after a run of five straight points by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, back after missing the Washington game with a sprained ankle. They finished with 67 points in the first half. But Los Angeles posted 60, including 14 by Harris.
"He hit some really tough shots (throughout)," Atkinson said.
L.A. got as close as six early in the third, but the Nets opened some breathing room again. When Russell made a 3, the advantage was up to 84-71. Russell made another 3, and it was 89-77 game with 4:37 remaining in the quarter.
The Clippers hung in. When Lou Williams drove for two with one-tenth of a second left in the third, the lead was down to 97-90. That triggered a 9-0 run that tied it. Williams' three free throws gave Los Angeles its first lead at 102-101 with 8:21 on the clock.
As Allen put it, "... tonight we showed that we still have a lot of improvement to do."
