The Nets are going to be heading to Paris with a bad taste in their mouths after blowing multiple leads in a 134-127 overtime loss to Portland before a crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center on Sunday.
Wasting a huge game from Mikal Bridges, Brooklyn posted its 11th loss in the last 14 games.
And it was a defeat that should’ve been a victory.
Forget the fact they faced a Portland team that is just 10-25, traded away Damian Lillard and played without Deandre Ayton.
The Nets had a cushion, and control of the game.
Until they gave it away.
The Nets led by seven in the fourth quarter, and by two points with 2:03 left in overtime.
Bridges had a game-high 42 points, including the bucket to force OT.
And he gave Brooklyn a 123-121 lead in the extra stanza, but it coughed it up.
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Malcolm Brodgon sandwiched 3-pointers around a Cam Johnson miss.
Brogdon’s first gave Portland the lead for good at 124-123 with 2:02 left in overtime.
The second pushed the lead to four.
After Bridges turned the ball over — a steal by Shaedon Sharpe (21 points) — the Portland guard hit a free throw to make it 128-123 with 1:14 left in overtime.
Cruising along with a seven-point fourth-quarter lead, Brooklyn (16-21) allowed a 20-6 run to see its cushion reversed with just over four minutes left.
Down 108-101 with 4:18 to play, a 10-2 run got the Nets right back in it.
With the score knotted, Sharpe missed an acrobatic alley-oop attempt.
Johnson missed a wide-open 3-point look just short, and Dorian Finney-Smith tried to save the ball but his foot was out of bounds, verified by replay.
The Trail Blazers got the ball back with 22.9 seconds on the clock, and this time Sharpe didn’t miss.
He drove the lane for a go-ahead layup.
But Bridges hit a tough driving 15-foot fadeaway with 1.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
Johnson opened the scoring with a 3-pointer.
And with Brooklyn up 118-117, Bridges drove for an and-one.
Portland pulled even again at 121-all.
Bridges gave the Nets a lead, but it wasn’t good enough to hold it.