NEW LO’ POINT
The Nets ended 2016 with ingame discord and postgame discourse, a players-only meeting they hoped would help break their slump. They opened 2017 by playing hard, and playing together — but not playing quite well enough.
Brooklyn wasted a solid defensive effort with two late stumbles, falling 101-89 to Utah before 15,634 at Barclays Center and dropping to the worst record in the NBA.
“I’ve got to say I’m just very disappointed in myself. I didn’t play at the level we needed [me] to. I just hurt the team. It wasn’t something they were doing defensively. It was just me,’’ said center Brook Lopez, who had 14 points and five boards. “I’m very disappointed in myself. I’m real mad at myself right now.”
It had been the mild-mannered Lopez that had actually spoke up in the players-only meeting following Friday’s loss to the Wizards, when the players spent the whole game bickering instead of defending. It bodes well that the genial giant is finally picking up the vocal leadership role with Jeremy Lin sidelined yet again. It was also a positive that the message seemed to get through.
This time the Nets (8-25) came out alert, active and aggressive against Utah (22-13), just not when it counted the most. After holding the Jazz to 35.2 percent shooting through three quarters, they allowed 63.6 percent shooting in the fourth, forward Gordon Hayward finishing with 30 points and center Rudy Gobert added 15 points and 16 rebounds.
“It started in the end of the third. We were plus-8, then plus-8 went to even and they got the momentum and carried it into the fourth,’’ coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I’m proud of our team’s defensive effort. … Our offense wasn’t great, obviously. We were 1-15 from 3 in the second half. It’s hard to beat a team like that.”
It actually went from 62-53 with 5:20 left in the third on a hook shot by Trevor Booker to an 70-67 deficit, thanks to Utah going small and going on a 17-5 run. The Nets were still down just 80-78 after Sean Kilpatrick’s foul shots with 7:56 left before they yielded nine straight points
“They went small and they did a pretty good job attacking when they had the small lineup in,’’ said Booker, who had season-highs of 17 points and 15 boards versus his old team. “That was a big difference in the game.”
Rodney Hood hit a pull-up jumper, then another. Gobert’s three-point play and a Hood driving layup pushed the lead to 89-78, and the Nets never challenged again.
Still, it’s Lopez taking up reins of a vocal leader is an auspicious sign.
“That’s why I look at this like a positive, especially Brook. I want him to be honest and open. When he sees something he has a great basketball IQ , he can really help these guys. That’s how we can help him grow. Especially with Jeremy out, he can take that role,’’ Atkinson had said before the game.
“We need more of that. I like that he leads by example. I do. But there are times he’s got to step up. I’d say overall in the huddles he’s fantastic and I’d say 98 percent of it’s positive. But we need a little more ‘Hey man, we’ve got to sprint back on defense.’ Or ‘step in and take that charge.’ It’s a role he’s capable of doing.”