NEW YORK _ Blown Nets leads were supposed to be a thing of the past, and they were supposed to make quick work of a Hornets team on the second leg of a back-to-back on Wednesday night. But a ghost from Halloween past reared its ugly head and haunted the Nets in a 113-108 loss.
The Nets took a 20-point lead in the second quarter and were up as many as 17 midway through the third. That advantage evaporated in the blink of an eye.
Instead, it was Devonte' Graham o'clock, the time of the night for the Hornets' growing star to take over like Kemba Walker used to. Graham was unconscious from 3-point range, going 7 for 12 from deep and scoring 40 points in the Hornets' come-from-behind victory.
Twenty-three of Graham's 40 points came after the 5:58 mark in the third, when the Hornets trailed by 17. He hit several shots in the fourth quarter to seal the deal, including a step-back, toe-on-the-line 2 that was immediately followed by a 3 in Joe Harris' grill.
That 3 was the dagger that put the Nets down five with just 22 seconds left in the game. Spencer Dinwiddie responded by getting fouled on a 3, but he missed the first free throw, and the Nets botched the following possession.
The Nets were due for a fall from grace after the story they had carved for themselves. This is an undermanned team that entered Wednesday night 9-3 in their last 12 games. Those games were, of course, without both Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert.
The pair of late-game killers was sorely missed on Wednesday night.
There is no timetable yet on both Irving and LeVert's injury return date, and their loss to an outside-the-playoff-race Hornets team showed a weakness in the Nets' armor while short-handed.
When the going gets tough, the Nets have relied on their defense to win ball games. But what happens when the defense doesn't hold? Losses like Wednesday's against the Hornets.
