NEW YORK _ After digging a 21-point second-quarter hole against the Kings Wednesday night at Barclays Center, the Nets climbed all the way back within sight of what could have been a miracle victory. They trailed by two points with 11.1 seconds left but committed two straight turnovers with the game on the line to lose a 104-99 decision. It was their fourth straight loss.
Still trailing by 15 early in the fourth quarter, the Nets' second unit fashioned a 14-2 run, including six points from Caris LeVert and five from Joe Harris, whose 3 at the 8:01 mark cut the Kings' lead to 92-89. When Harris converted a layup at 5:04, the Nets' deficit was down to 97-95. The Kings extended it to five, but a three-point play by Spencer Dinwiddie at 1:10 cut it to 101-99.
The Nets had a golden opportunity to lead or tie but missed two shots before a turnover by Quincy Acy with 11.1 seconds to go. They immediately fouled Bogdan Bogdanovic at 10.7, and he missed the first before making the second for a three-point lead. Dinwiddie missed a potential tying 3 with 4.6 seconds to go, but the Nets retained possession and got one more chance that went awry when the inbounds pass from Joe Harris went out of bounds, leading to two foul shots by George Hill.
Dinwiddie topped the Nets (11-19) with 16 points, and they got 15 from DeMarre Carroll and 14 apiece from Joe Harris and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. But they shot only 38.8 percent and were outrebounded, 48-39. Hill led the Kings (11-20) with 22 points, Zach Randolph added 21 and Willie Cauley-Stein had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson attributed the three-game losing streak his team brought into the game to poor defense but expressed hope that two days of practice would help. "We had a good practice (Tuesday) and got to watch film," Atkinson said. "We're trying to get our defense back on track. In the last three games, we've had big-time slippage."
Practice did not make perfect for the Nets, who just might be missing power forward Trevor Booker, who brought great defensive energy off the bench with the second unit and also provided an inside scoring threat before he was traded to Philadelphia for Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas. A day earlier, Atkinson had predicted the Kings would attack the rim after watching Toronto and Indiana have so much inside success the previous two games.
That's exactly what happened. The Kings led by as much as 17 points in the first quarter when they shot 76.2 percent (16 of 21) and took an early 14-6 advantage in points in the paint. Meanwhile, the Nets were digging a hole with 3 of 12 shooting from three-point range.
The second quarter was more of the same as the Kings pushed their lead as high as 21 points before settling for a 64-48 halftime lead. By that time, Cauley-Stein and Randolph had combined for 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Neither Tyler Zeller nor Jarrett Allen could handle the Kings' big men, and Hollis-Jefferson and Quincy Acy also struggled defensively on the inside.
The Nets' starting unit began the third quarter with renewed defensive energy and put together a 20-7 run sparked by seven consecutive points from Carroll to pull within 77-72 of the Kings when Caris LeVert hit a pair of foul shots with 3:57 left in the period. But the Kings' Hill answered with consecutive three-pointers to slow the Nets' momentum, and they ended the quarter trailing, 86-75.
