Even the most delusional will have a hard time seeing a path for the Nets to make the play-in tournament at this point.
They were ripped 104-91 by the Pelicans Tuesday night at Barclays Center and now sit 4 1/2 games behind the Hawks for the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference and final play-in spot with just 13 games left to play.
The loss extended the Nets’ losing streak to four games, the fourth time the Nets have lost at least four consecutive games this season.
The plethora of empty seats were an indictment of where the Nets find themselves at this stage of the season, simply playing out the string the rest of the way.
It was hardly even competitive. And it quickly got ugly.
The Pelicans used a 20-4 run to start the second quarter to build a 47-25 lead and never looked back. At times, it was as if the Pelicans were simply running practice drills, effortlessly shredding the Nets’ defense. They were left with little to do to stop the Nets’ disjointed offense, which produced 13 turnovers – nine of which came in the first half.
Fans were far more excited for Zion Williamson’s monster alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter than anything the Nets produced.
But it wasn’t even the red-hot and slimmed down Williamson that was doing most of the damage when the Pelicans went on their big run. He picked up two early fouls, and had just eight points in the first half before coming alive in the second half and finishing with 28 points.
It was Larry Nance Jr. of all people, who entered Tuesday averaging just 5.5 points per game, torching the Nets, hitting his first five shots from the field for 11 first-half points before finishing with 13 points.
CJ McCollum chipped in 16 points, while Brandon Ingram added 11.
The Nets allowed the Pelicans to shoot a whopping 50.6 percent from the field.
Mikal Bridges, who was playing his 500th consecutive game, was the only Net to make a shot in the team’s first 11 attempts, as they started 2-for-11 from the field.
As a team, the Nets shot a paltry 36.9 percent from the field. Cam Thomas provided a rare bright spot, pouring in a team-high 25 points.