Brooklyn Nets: Someone Failed To Seize The Moment

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

Sloppy Start Ends With Sloppy Finish

FRIDAY

Nets          110

Grizzlies   115

I'm sure you recall when Memphis got the best of Flatbush back on Dec. 28, at Barclays Center.  To their credit, the Nets after getting pummeled in the paint that night mounted a comeback that sent the contest into overtime.  However, the Grizzlies eventually came away with a five-point margin of victory.

After Thursday's victory over the Sixers at Flatbush, the Nets arrived in Memphis for the second night of back-to-back games on Friday.  The Grizzlies appeared to pick up where they left off, jumping out to a 40-28 first-quarter lead, and a commanding 62-47 lead by the half.  However, the suddenly gamely Nets cut their deficit to six by end of the third.  Caris LeVert led the charge with 19 points and five three-pointers in the quarter.

Making his second straight start, Caris LeVert led all players with 36 minutes and 43 points.  Caris shot 15/23 (75%) from the field including 7/9 from afar and a perfect 6/6 from the line.

By 5:44 of the fourth quarter, Landry Shamet's three-pointer gave the Nets their first lead of the night.  A second consecutive three from Shamet at 4:36 gave the Nets yet another two-point lead.  Although, by then matters had already started going awry.  What we have is an instance where I feel Coach Nash failed to seize the moment.  DeAndre Jordan was kept on the floor down the stretch.  Insofar as the telecast, Ian Eagle and Sarah Kustok appeared equally puzzled as any fan viewing at home while Jarrett Allan remained idle on the bench.  In the meantime, the Nets went scoreless for over three minutes, and the issue of Nash's aversion to calling time outs reared its head again.  All the while, the Grizzlies pulled away with a 9-0 run.

all that effort for not, last five minutes completely mismanaged ... if Nash insists on keeping Jordan on the floor, he must throw his body around a little more, expend fouls instead of watching cats streak by

— B'klynTrolleyBlogger (@BTB_MikeII) January 9, 2021

five games in eight days and a back-to-back; not gonna knock Nash too much for his distribution of minutes, but the last few of this game is on him. #Nets

— B'klynTrolleyBlogger (@BTB_MikeII) January 9, 2021

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