In a game the Nets absolutely had to have, they got out-hustled, out-hit and outfought.
The Nets got punched first and never punched back, taking a 106-102 loss to Memphis before a crowd of 15,847 at Barclays Center.
The Grizzlies may have been decimated, but the Nets were the ones that were defeated, done in by their own ambivalence.
“When we got in the fight, we didn’t keep swinging. And when you don’t keep swinging, you get knocked out, and they knocked us out. Starting with me, the coaching staff, the players,” interim head coach Kevin Ollie said. “We stopped swinging, and we can’t do that. We’re not talented enough to do that.”
The Nets (24-37) gave away the momentum of their consecutive wins over Atlanta, falling 2½ games out of the final play-in spot in the East. They host the 76ers on Tuesday while the Hawks play across the East River at the Garden.
Yes, they can say they simply lost it on a 9-0, fourth-quarter Grizzlies run to break a tie and break their backs. But they’d be lying to themselves.
The Nets lost it by going 17 of 30 at the foul line.
They lost it by repeatedly losing Luke Kennard on the perimeter.
And most of all they lost it by getting hammered, 51-33, on the glass by this shell of a team.
“Our effort wasn’t good enough to get a win, and every game, it costs,” Ollie said.
“We didn’t pay enough to get this win. That goes for coaches, everybody. You’ve got to pay the cost for a win. That’s effort, that’s energy, that’s playing together, that’s hitting, that’s doing all of those small things. And we let opportunities slip through our fingers.”
Or let the Grizzlies beat them up and take them.
Memphis (21-41) had lost five straight and were without Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart and Jaren Jackson Jr. due to injury. The Grizzlies had just nine active players.
Turned out that was enough to hand the Nets a crushing defeat.
“We need to win every single game, especially games like this. They’re missing a lot of dudes so this loss is definitely gonna sting. But we’ve got to flush it and get ready for [Tuesday],” said Nic Claxton, who had 21 points and six rebounds but was assessed a critical technical foul to kill the Nets only real run of the night.
Mikal Bridges was held to just 14 points on 4-for-14 shooting.
“They just played harder than us. They outrebounded us by a lot. I take a lot of [blame] on both ends … just boxing out, not getting the rebound. So just tough,” Bridges said. “This is just a bad one for me, and [I] take a lot of blame for [it]. It just sucks. But you’ve gotta get ready for [the 76ers].”
They let Kennard — the one player they absolutely, positively had to stay attached to — score 25 points on 6 of 9 from deep, far too many of those looks wide open.
His 3 left them down 71-63 with 5:53 left in the third.
It was still 75-68 before they strung together some stops. They ran off nine unanswered, with Claxton’s dunk giving them a 77-75 lead with 2:22 to go in the third.
But Claxton picked up that ill-advised technical, getting pulled and handing Memphis a 5-0 mini-run to close the quarter.
The Nets clawed back, pulling even at 88-all when Cam Johnson drilled a 3 with 8:41 to play. But they never got over the hump, and immediately allowed a 6-0 run to fall behind for good.
Kennard’s midrange jumper made it 94-88. The clock read 4:43 to play, but the game was over. His 3 padded it to 99-90, the Nets’ late 10-4 run falling short.
Dennis Schroder (13 points, nine assists) hit a free throw to get the Nets within three.
After Bridges was fouled with seven seconds left while attempting a 3 down 105-100, he sank the first two and missed the third on purpose. But a lane violation gave Memphis the ball, and Kennard iced it at the line.
“The game makes you pay when you’re not locked-in,” said Johnson. “It’s on us: We’ve gotta be a lot better.”
