NEW YORK _ In what has been a season of difficulties and indignities, the second half has been particularly cruel to the Nets. Leads disappear, systems fail and plays fall apart. So when the Nets went into the halftime break leading the Pelicans by six, the conclusion seemed inevitable: Another breakdown, an eighth straight loss.
The Nets (8-30) survived a third-quarter scare and went into the fourth with a lead, only to finally succumb in the final minutes and lose to the Pelicans, 104-95, Thursday night at Barclays Center. Tyreke Evans scored 14 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth, as the same difficulties that usually plague the Nets in the third quarter appeared later in the game.
Brook Lopez's layup with 3:35 remaining gave the Nets a 94-91 lead, but the Pelicans scored the next 11 to put it away; the Nets were outscored 31-16 in the fourth and 13-1 to close out the game.
"We really struggled to score the ball. I think a few turnovers, just didn't make the plays, could do a better job of executing at the end," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. "Overall, 31-16 in the fourth quarter, that's not easy ... Then you get outscored (like that) in the fourth.
'They turned up the pressure ... We need to do a better job there."
Terrence Jones' turnaround bank shot with 2:55 left put the Pelicans up 95-94; Jones scored six of his 24 points in the fourth and totaled 12 rebounds. The Pelicans were 17-for-25 from the line (compared with the Nets' 6-for-11), giving them just a little bit of the edge they lost when Pelicans star Anthony Davis (hip) was declared inactive shortly before tipoff.
Lopez led the Nets with 20 points and six rebounds and Sean Kilpatrick scored 18 off the bench. Isaiah Whitehead left in the third quarter with a sprained left knee and did not return.
Though things started off promisingly, the Nets continued their recent pattern. They've been mired in a mighty offensive drought and have lost 13 of 14. They've scored fewer than 100 points in seven of those losses and have lost by double digits in seven _ failing to rebound, getting victimized by turnovers and losing chances in transition.
"It's the same story, really. We turned the ball over ... We've got to do a better job of taking care of it," Lopez said. "We need to cherish the ball more. We have to get better at going into the third quarter raring to go and closing it out."
"It was a mix of us not executing offensively and them just making some big-time plays," Joe Harris said. "We didn't respond to them very well when they were making big plays."
It's those same troubles that gave the Pelicans some momentum in the third quarter. Evans intercepted a pass from Spencer Dinwiddie and practically strolled through the Nets defense to give the Pelicans a 68-67 lead with 4:34 left in the period. The Nets managed to contain the damage thanks to Trevor Booker and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who scored on back-to-back possessions. The Nets led by seven with 2:06 left in the third on Kilpatrick's 3-pointer.
It turns out it was only a brief reprieve to the inevitable conclusion.
