They will enter Thursday’s tilt four games behind the 10th-place Hawks (26-32) for the final spot in the Eastern Conference’s play-in tournament.
Brooklyn ended a four-game losing streak in Memphis Monday to nab interim coach Kevin Ollie his first career NBA win at the helm, but was unable to repeat the feat against the Magic, who pulled away early and never looked back.
Mikal Bridges, the Nets’ leading scorer, suffered through his worst game of the season, managing just four points, all of which came after intermission, while misfiring on all seven of his 3-point attempts as Brooklyn shot 39 percent from the field overall.
The Nets also committed 20 turnovers, leading to 29 points for the Magic, who were without leading scorer Paolo Banchero due to an illness.
“We were just a little bit careless with (the ball),” noted Bridges, who finished 2-for-13 from the field overall.
Brooklyn was missing starting point guard Ben Simmons (back), but will have him available against Atlanta.
Cam Thomas injured his ankle during the win in Memphis, but was unable to go in Orlando and has been ruled out for Thursday.
Ollie, who will be making his Brooklyn head-coaching debut, knows his team has little margin for error as it tries to climb back into the hunt in the East.
“We just got to have a little bit more poise and take care of the basketball,” he noted.
“Without (Thomas) and a couple other of our players we got to be really, really efficient on the offense end, not turn the ball over, get shots, and not have empty possessions. I thought we just had to many empty possessions (in Orlando).”
The Nets split a pair of meetings with the Hawks this season, including a wild 147-145 overtime loss in Atlanta on Nov. 22 that saw Bridges put up a career high-tying 45 points only to watch Trae…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply