Brooklyn Nets Get Wiped Out By Orlando Magic At Home

The Brooklyn Nets suffered their second straight loss after looking to bounce back from a 105-100 home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. For the Orlando Magic, they snapped a two-game losing streak after getting annihilated by the Cleveland Cavaliers, 111-76, on Friday night.

A competitive first half took place as there were 11 lead changes and eight ties. The Magic took command in the third quarter, expanding their lead to 14 and outscored their opponents 31-24. Orlando started the final period of the game hitting six straight shots and building their lead to 20. Both teams then emptied their benches and as a result, all players active logged in at least four minutes. In the past three games, Brooklyn scored 37, 30 and 30 points during the fourth frame. Tonight, they had no answer, tallying only 13 points.

Nikola Vucevic led all scorers with 18 points. Second year pro Elfrid Payton notched 17 points while Long Island native Tobias Harris chipped in with 15. Andrew Nicholson led the bench with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Brook Lopez had a nightmare game converting on only four of his 15 field goal attempts. Lopez, Joe Johnson and Thaddeus Young combined for a total of 27 points. Jarrett Jack led his team in scoring with 15. The Nets shot 39 percent from the floor and were outscored in the paint 42-to-38. Other struggles for Brooklyn included protecting the ball and defending, as they could not record a single block. Tonight they committed 17 turnovers and have now combined for a total of 77 turnovers in their last four games.

“I definitely take responsibility for this one. I felt I was a complete negative for our team,” said Lopez during the post-game interview. “I kind of let us down and pulled us back. I definitely need to be better and I can be. It was very frustrating.”

Head coach Lionel Hollins shared his views on the contest, “Well, that was a good game for about a quarter and eight minutes. We had good ball movement and then we just started standing and holding the ball too much.”