The Nets couldn’t keep up with Donovan Mitchell down the stretch Wednesday as the Cavaliers spoiled Opening Night at Barclays Center. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II
The Nets are going to Dallas on Friday night to open a four-game road trip, and face Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks for the first time since he was traded out of Brooklyn in February.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn is still wondering how his team blew a late six-point lead to Cleveland on Opening Night at Downtown’s Barclays Center Wednesday.
“I told the guys, ‘We have to be the more team. More accountability, more physical, more disruptive, more communicative.’” Vaughn intimated after the Nets suffered a heartbreaking 114-113 defeat to Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers in front of a sellout crowd of 17,931 disappointed fans.
Mitchell scored 27 points, including nine in the last 2 1/2 minutes, as Cleveland stunned Brooklyn on a night Cam Thomas came off the bench and made NBA history by scoring 36 points in only 25 minutes.
“I feel like we played well,” Thomas told the Associated Press. “We got off to a slow start (at) the beginning, so we had to fight back for three quarters (and) it’s a tough thing to do against a good team like Cleveland.”
Priding themselves on defense, the Nets (0-1) faltered down the stretch after building a 111-105 lead on two free throws by Mikal Bridges with 1:24 left in regulation.
Mitchell, who had knotted the contest at 105-105 less than a minute earlier, took control thereafter. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard out of Louisville drilled a 21-foot pull-up jumper to spark Cleveland’s late rally.
He threw down a dunk to knot the contest at 111-111 with 41.1 ticks remaining and answered two more free throws from Bridges by hitting a 3-pointer to cap the scoring with 12.1 seconds remaining.
“The thing about our team is…
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