Despite a fantasy-like atmosphere at Barclays Center for Star Wars night, the force was not with the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
The Nets lost to Orlando, 105-82, ending a four-game winning streak vs. the Magic, as well as a six-game winning streak at home against Orlando.
The game was tied after the first quarter and closely contested in the second, but the Magic pulled away in the back half of the game outscoring the Nets 53-37. Nikola Vucevic scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the third quarter, as Orlando shot 53.9% overall (41-of-76).
“That was a good game for a quarter and eight minutes,” head coach Lionel Hollins said. “We had good defense and good ball movement and then we just started standing, holding the ball too much. In the second half their offense broke us down. Vucevic and [Andrew] Nicholson took control of the game.”
Jarrett Jack led the Nets with 15 points (5-of-9), while Thaddeus Young picked up his 12th double-double of the season, netting 10 points (5-of-11) and 11 boards. Brook Lopez had a tough night from the field, hitting 4-of-15 for 11 points.
“I definitely take responsibility for this one,” Lopez said. “I definitely need to be better, and I know I can be. That was very frustrating.”
The Magic shot 62.5% in the first quarter, but the Nets were very much in the game, playing to a 25-25 tie after 12 minutes. The second quarter saw eight lead changes until the Magic used an 11-4 run to take a 52-45 lead into the half and while the Nets were able to keep it close in the first quarter, they didn’t have an answer when the Magic shot 58.3% in the third.
“We weren’t helping each other defensively and taking our matchups personally,” said Joe Johnson, who hit a pair of threes and finished the game with six points, five assists and three boards. “I thought they had a lot of easy drives down the lane and had a lot of easy baskets off turnovers. We shot ourselves in the foot.”
From Hollins, to Lopez to Johnson, the Nets said there were lessons to be taken from Monday’s loss, but the most important thing was to move on and get back to work Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, you want to look at it as one game,” Lopez said. “Learn what we can, but we don’t want to be hanging our heads and taking multiple steps back any more than we should from tonight. We still have plenty of games left, plenty of season left and we need to focus on what we need to do to get better.”
The Nets wrap up their six-game homestand on Wednesday night vs. the Miami Heat. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.
NOTES: Bojan Bogdanovic (10 points) hit double-digits for the fourth-straight game… Andrea Bargnani (12 points) hit double-digits for the third straight game… Orlando’s Elfrid Payton scored 17 points with five assists and five rebounds… Monday night was Star Wars night at Barclays Center.