EAST RUTHERFORD (NBA.com exclusive) --  The Nets' nightmare continues.

And the root of their unrest in a disappointing 82-79 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at the Izod Center were multiple blown chances to get that first win of an injury-plagued season, including one final opportunity that saw Nets guard Rafer Alston inbound the ball to the wrong player in a communication breakdown that has typified a difficult 0-8 start.

"It's repetitive, you know," said Nets center Brook Lopez, who finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds. "But we're definitely gaining character."

Playing just seven players, New Jersey extended its worst start in franchise history. The last NBA team to go 0-8 was the 2007-08 Seattle SuperSonics. And it doesn't get any easier for New Jersey as it travels to Florida for a difficult two games against Orlando and Miami.

"When things sometimes don't go your way, you don't get that play, you don't get that call," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "We've just got to keep making our own luck."

The Nets led 79-77 after a pair of Lopez free throws with 1:26 left. But Marreese Speights (19 points, nine rebounds) gave the 76ers an 80-79 lead when he put back a Thaddeus Young miss, picked up a foul and put in the free throw with 1:10 left.

That's when things really went south for New Jersey. Trenton Hassell missed a layup on the Nets' next possession and Philadelphia kept the ball for some 40 seconds after Speights grabbed a long rebound of an Andre Iguodala miss.

Yet, the 76ers failed to convert. And with 14 seconds left, Lopez drove from the right side. But his offering was wedged between 76ers center Samuel Dalembert's hands and the backboard. The Nets wanted the foul. Dalembert wanted credit for the block. Neither got what they wished, but the 76ers had the advantage. Dalembert's defense did the job.

"That's what I do," said Dalembert, who finished with four blocks. "I kind of anticipated what [Lopez] was going to do. I know he wants to spin to the middle, but he hasn't been doing that much in this game. So I kind of invited him to go to the middle. By the time he got to the middle, he didn't get a chance to lean. I was up high. That was my advantage."

Dalembert was fouled after the rebound and put in a free throw to make it 81-79 with 12.2 seconds left. The Nets then ran a perfect play that found rookie Terrence Williams, making his first career start, alone for a wide-open 3-pointer from the left wing. But he couldn't convert.

After Young finished off his 20-point night with a free throw to give the 76ers an 82-79 lead with 5.7 seconds left, the Nets ran a play that would have Alston inbound to Hassell with the hope of finding Alston back beyond the arc for a 3-point attempt. The only problem was Alston misread the play and tried to put it into Bobby Simmons' hands. Instead, it wound up in Young's hands. And time expired.

"It was a bad inbound pass," Alston said. "But I saw Bobby curling tight and I threw it to him. I was supposed to throw it to Trenton. I was supposed to run the play that was designed. It was a bad read and the next thing I saw Bobby's numbers."

"It was a turnover from the start," Frank added.

In what has become a disappointing norm for the Nets, they suited up just eight players and played only seven (Sean Williams did not play). Among their walking wounded were starters Devin Harris (strained right groin), Courtney Lee (strained left groin), Chris Douglas-Roberts (flu) and Yi Jianlian (sprained knee).

On that front, there was at least a glimmer of optimism. Lee is now listed as day-to-day, while Harris, whose injury is regarded as more severe, has begun shooting in practice.

In the meantime, Frank is confident his team will remain resilient.

"There's no such thing as failure in the sense that you learn from all of these situations," he said. "You walk into that locker room, guys are very, very disappointed, dejected. But it's good. This is a prideful group. You're playing seven guys. They're busting their tails. You do the things you're supposed to do, but it didn't come up on the positive side of us. But it's a very, very early season. We'll break through."