The Brooklyn Nets looked like a team still on vacation during their first game after the All-Star break. Jordi Fernandez's team sleepwalked through a 112-84 loss to the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday to start the second half of the season.
This game marked the Nets' NBA-leading eighth wire-to-wire loss of the season. Brooklyn trails by 43 points.
"It was everything. The physicality, the intensity, all those things we weren't matching up to," Fernandez said. "Their physicality, their intensity was exactly what a winning team should be. We weren't even close."
With starting center Nick Claxton sidelined, the Nets had no answer for the Cavaliers on both ends during the lopsided loss. He shot 30 of 87 (34.5 percent) from the field and 14 of 49 (28.6 percent) from three.
Brooklyn offered little resistance defensively as the Cavs shot 44-of-86 (51.2 percent), with seven players reaching double figures.
Nets dominate Cavs during blowout loss, tipping off tank race
Brooklyn's lack of engagement was evident from the opening tip. After some miscommunication on their first two possessions, Fernandez called a timeout 40 seconds into the game in an attempt to wake up his team. He had little success in doing so.
"It was two mistakes that were completely controllable, and it tells me about the readiness of our players. It was a lack of effort and readiness, and I'm not going to let it fly. And we didn't wake up," Fernandez said. "We know we are better, our standards are higher than this. Now we have to go to the next level, and hold everyone accountable, including me, and go and fight better [on Friday in Oklahoma City]"
Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists on 5 of 13 shooting. Ochai Agbaji added 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting off the bench during his second game with Brooklyn. Danny Wolf scored 11 points and seven assists on 4-of-12 shooting, while Egor Demin had 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting for Cleveland, while James Harden added 16 points and nine assists on 6-of-8 shooting.
The loss brings a ray of hope for the Nets, who are tied with the Washington Wizards for fourth place in the draft lottery standings. Brooklyn is tied in the win column and twice behind the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans in the loss column, who are in second place.
Fernandez's team will be back in action on Friday during a road matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
