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Brooklyn Nets 120-123 Los Angeles Clippers: Three Takeaways

LOS ANGELES – It was a career-night for Caris LeVert, but the Nets (20-44) were once again undone by their defense and turnovers in a heart-breaking defeat to the Clippers (34-28).

If the Nets want to take the next step in their development process and continue making strides, they’ll need to resolve their issues in both areas. The home team shot 52.4 percent on field goals and was able to score 18 points off of the visitors’ 14 turnovers in the 123-120 result at Staples Center.

Austin Rivers was the leading scorer for the Clippers with 27 points to go with five rebounds. Caris LeVert had a career-high 27 points to go along with five assists and five boards.

Brooklyn will hope to snap its three-game losing streak when it heads to the ORACLE Arena to take on the defending NBA champions in the Warriors.

Here are three observations:

Turnovers, Defense Cost Brooklyn

The Nets started the game in a 0-10 hole as they shot poorly and gave away the ball, two issues that plagued the team throughout the first half. While Brooklyn was able to cut the score to 54-51 late in the second quarter, Los Angeles went on an 11-3 run to head into halftime with a 65-53 lead.

In the previous game between these two teams, the Nets allowed the Clippers to have seven players score in double figures in 114-101 defeat at Barclays Center on Feb. 12. The Nets were able to improve offensively due to hitting 19 threes, but the home side had six players with 10 or more points. That’s not going to get it done on the road.

Nets Bench Steps Up

The Nets currently have the second-best scoring bench in the NBA, but the unit hasn’t been consistent recently.
In the past three games, Brooklyn’s reserves have been averaging 37.3 points per game – 10 less than their season average of 45.6. LeVert and Joe Harris made sure the unit got back to their best on Sunday.

The pair were effective in both driving and hitting from downtown and finished with a combined 46 points on 17-of-30 shooting. Those performances appeared to also spark Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Dante Cunningham. The Nets’ bench outscored their counterparts 75 to 39.

Brooklyn’s Starters Struggle

Any starter not named DeMarre Carroll won’t want to watch game tape of this defeat – it was ugly. Allen Crabbe, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen and D’Angelo Russell struggled to find their shot as the four players shot 6-for-28 on Sunday.

The performance of Brooklyn’s backcourt was particularly concerning as it’s the second-straight where Russell and Dinwiddie appeared out of sync. On Saturday, Kenny Atkinson admitted that he felt like the Nets’ leading guards were being too polite to each other. He also mentioned that he felt Dinwiddie was being a bit tentative – something which Carroll agreed with, saying “Like I tell Spence — and I tell it to his face — we need him to be the same Spence he was when D’Angelo was out of the lineup. Now he’s back, we still need you to be that Spence that you were before.”

In the past five games, Dinwiddie is averaging a strong 8.8 assists, but his scoring has dipped dramatically – only averaging 8.4 points per game on 33 percent shooting (13 percent from downtown).

The Nets need Dinwiddie to be at his best to win games.