After coughing up a huge lead Thursday against Golden State, the Nets did it again Saturday in Charlotte.
Brooklyn fell 105-102 against the Hornets, extending their season-worst losing streak to seven games.
After blowing a 22-point cushion at home against the Warriors, this time the Nets squandered a nine-point lead — including 13 points with just 3:31 to play.
From that point on, they allowed a 22-5 run to throw away a win. They missed their final six shots, committed three turnovers and dropped a crusher.
D’Angelo Russell had a game-high 28 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter. But Miles Bridges had 26 for Charlotte, which stole the game without injured LaMelo Ball.
The Nets were tied with Toronto for the fifth-worst record in the NBA, and were a half-game ahead of Philadelphia in the lottery standings.
Both the Raptors and 76ers played later Saturday night in a race for Cooper Flagg.
Russell hit a pull-up 3-pointer to put the Nets ahead 58-41 with 23.6 seconds left in the first half. Brooklyn was still cruising along, up 78-65 after a Trendon Watford jumper with 3:49 left in the third quarter, when it allowed a 13-4 run that spanned into the fourth.
The Nets led 97-83, but allowed a 22-5 run to end it.
Russell tried to keep Brooklyn afloat, with 15 points in the first half of the final period. The Nets led 97-89 when he sat for a rest, but they imploded.
The Nets came unglued when faced with Charlotte’s ball pressure, unable to get a good look. Brooklyn conceded a 20-5 run.
After Damion Baugh hit a layup to cut the lead to 102-101 with 2:11 to play, Russell lost the ball out of bounds. Then, after Nick Smith Jr. missed a jumper, Brooklyn failed to box out and let Moussa Diabate snake in for a putback.
Brooklyn trailed for the first time since 4-3, and couldn’t recover. The Nets got the ball into the hands of Cam Thomas, but with 4.7 seconds to play he got blocked by Bridges — coming off a career-high 46 points on Friday night. But this time he beat the Nets on the other end of the floor.
Watford’s half-court heave rimmed out at the buzzer.