CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Hornets were on the worst losing skid in the NBA.
But the Nets were even worse Saturday night. Much worse.
The Nets are apparently everybody else’s get-well game.
Despite the return of Cam Thomas, Brooklyn was beat, 110-99, by Charlotte before a sellout crowd of 19,090 at Spectrum Center — a desultory defeat that was about more than just talent, but temperament as well.
The Nets’ lack of grit was concerning. But coming against the horrid Hornets (16-48), who had been mired in a league-worst six-game losing streak, it set off alarm bells.
Loud ones.
“My eyes don’t lie; 50-50 balls, I don’t remember us getting one of them. I really don’t,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “Now I might be lying when I watch the tape, but every 50-50 ball, when we had a chance to get it, we didn’t get it.”
Sparked by a game-high 31 points from Thomas in his return from a sprained ankle, the Nets (25-39) led by as many as 12 points early, but gave that lead away.
And when they did, the Nets had very little fight in them to come back.
Stuck in a 48-all deadlock with five minutes left in the second quarter, Brooklyn watched Charlotte close the half on a 15-4 run — including the last nine unanswered points.
The Nets had no legitimate answer in the second half, either.
They never led again, or even pulled even.
“It’s effort, man. That’s all it is to it when you try to keep somebody in front,” Thomas said. “Some of it is scheme as far as when they come and peel. We mess up the coverage sometimes, but at some point you’ve just got to take the challenge and guard your man one-on-one.
“Just giving up straight line drives is hard. Puts a lot of pressure on our defense because then they can just spray it out, get wide open 3s. And anybody in this league can make a wide-open catch-and-shoot 3. So at some point, you’ve just got to take pride in just keeping somebody in front of us.”
Mikal Bridges had 19 for the Nets, but shot 6 of 18 as his shooting woes continued.
Brooklyn fell 4 ½ games behind Atlanta for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference with just 18 games left in the regular season — and they have nobody but themselves and their lackadaisical defense to blame.
“No, it’s not fun at all. It just turns into us losing and losing ain’t fun at all,” Bridges said. “So you’ve got to get it right with effort and stuff. But it’s just being detailed.”
The Nets allowed 24 points to Miles Bridges and 54.3 percent shooting, the fourth-highest they’d permitted all season.
And it came on easy drives to the basket that undercut any offensive boost they got from the return of Thomas.
In his first game since Feb. 26, Thomas poured in 31 points on 5 of 10 from deep.
After missing the prior six games, Thomas couldn’t miss a shot early.
But after Thomas scored 17 in the first quarter — the fourth-highest scoring quarter by a Net this season — Brooklyn got outscored 32-17 team in the second.
Dennis Schroder (12 points, seven assists, six rebounds) made a driving layup to push the Nets’ lead to 28-16 in the first.
But Brooklyn allowed a 15-7 run to close the quarter. And soon, it didn’t lead at all.
Tied 48-all with five minutes left in the half, the Nets let the Hornets close on a 15-4 blitz with a turnover and dunk by Brandon Miller (23 points) making it 63-52 going into the break.
And the Nets were essentially broken.
They never pulled even. Down 68-58, they managed a 14-6 run to get within two — but no closer.
The Nets conceded a 12-4 run that put them down by double digits, and put the game away.
“We just have to have resolve. When shots are going in, we’re fine, but when shots are not going in, we’ve got to do the little things,” Ollie said. “And I tell them it’s not that we’re not capable. Are we willing to do it, though? To do the small things to win.”
