The Raptors are trying to break through and show they can win a ring. The Nets are just trying to show they can win a game.
Tuesday night, the Nets couldn’t even do that, despite letting a monster game from D’Angelo Russell go to waste in a 116-102 loss before 16,654 at Barclays Center.
Russell had a game-high 32 points, thanks to a nuclear first quarter. He hit four quick 3-pointers to spot the Nets to a 17-6 lead, and he had 24 points before checking out with 7:40 left in the first and the Nets up 29-22.
But Russell had just eight points on 3-of-15 shooting the rest of the way. East-leading Toronto (50-17) blitzed him on the pick-and-roll and Fred VanVleet (a staggering plus-31) came off the bench to harass Russell the rest of the night. In the end the Nets had no answers, and no hope.
The Nets allowed a 15-0 Raptors run in the third quarter. After a Russell pull-up jumper, they didn’t hit a single basket in the game’s final 6:09. And even within 103-100 with 5:48 left, they capitulated and coughed up another 11 unanswered points.
“VanVleet came in and changed the game. I just think his pressure, his aggressiveness, his grit, he really changed the game,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Behind him they have two great rim protectors in [Serge] Ibaka and [Jonas] Valanciunas. … A sign of a great team is a team that can beat you in different ways.
“VanVleet, he was a plus-31 for the game. he was all over the place defensively. There’s not a ton of guys that can change a game defensively. He did it. Got to give him credit.”
The Nets (21-47) got beat in a host of different ways. Russell’s seven 3-pointers in the first quarter were the most by any player in the
NBA this season, and tied for the fifth-most during any quarter in league history. And the Nets wasted it.
“They trapped me, forced me to pass it,” Russell said. “We just missed shots down the stretch. I think if we make those shots it might be a different game. … [VanVleet is] pesky. I give him a lot of credit. He plays solid defense.”
Sure, the Nets did a decent job keeping Toronto stars DeMar DeRozan (15 points) and Kyle Lowry (11 points, 11 assists) in check. But with starting center Jarrett Allen out with a sore left foot, Atkinson opted to go small and started Dante Cunningham. It spaced the floor, but Valanciunas, the center, scored 26 points, snatched 14 boards and wore them out on the pick-and-roll.
Russell hit four 3-pointers for a 17-6 lead within the first 3:47. His 24 points in the opening quarter were the most by a Net in any quarter this season, and matched the highest-scoring half of his career — which came March 1, 2016 for the Lakers against the Nets.
Brooklyn led 67-57 at the break, and was rolling along with a 74-59 cushion after a Cunningham tip-in. But that’s when they let Valanciunas and Ibaka eat them alive inside during a 15-0 run, capped by VanVleet’s game-tying 3-pointer.
With the Nets clinging to a 91-89 edge after Caris LeVert’s free throws with 9:50 to play, CJ Miles answered Russell’s run with one of his own. Miles was scoreless before reeling off 12 points in a 14-4 two-minute blitz, but his 3-pointer put Toronto ahead 103-95 with 7:15 remaining.
The Nets got it to 103-100, but they couldn’t get over the hump. DeRozan hit a pair of free throws and then a 3-pointer to pad the gap to eight with just three minutes left. His cutting layup pushed it to double-digits, and Valanciunas’ bucket made it 112-100. There were two minutes left, but they were perfunctory.