The raptors were rested and resuscitated and played like that. The nets were tired and understaffed, and their struggles showed it. The bottom fell out at least once.
The understaffed Nets coughed a giant run in the third quarter with neither the legs nor the healthy bodies to return to the Raptors on Wednesday night with a 114-103 road loss to the Raptors.
The end of a duel marked the Nets’ 11th consecutive loss on the road to the Raptors, attributed to their last win on February 4, 2015. The first 10 of those losses were in Toronto while it was Wednesday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, Canada or Florida that wouldn’t have mattered.
Kyrie Irving had 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists while Bruce Brown added 21 and 14 boards from the bank for the Nets. But Joe Harris only scored two of his 14 points after the first quarter, and the nets only shot .396 out of the field, 13 to 41 out of 3 point range. Pascal Siakam had 27 points and OG Anunoby scored 25 for them Raptors who have won four straight wins and 24 out of 26 against the nets.
The nets essentially used an eight-man rotation, with Kevin Durant, James Harden, Nic Claxton and Spencer Dinwiddie all falling out. Harden, who missed an eighth game in a row and suffered a setback in his thigh rehab, had a front row seat next to General Manager Sean Marks to watch this breakdown.
« Big challenge, body in a back on back. We are generally challenged with a number of injuries this season, ”said Nets coach Steve Nash earlier. « But hopefully this can give us an opportunity to increase determination and get tougher.
» Toronto will have some excellent players, some winners, some people to test us. We have to be ready to play well and have a good start. «
The start was fine, but considering how heavy the legs of the nets looked in the end, good wasn’t good enough.
Having the nets after the first quarter led by 13 points, they still clung to a 62:59 lead at the beginning of the third quarter before the wheels loosened. At this point, the Raptors started a longer run of 31-10 in the third quarter, limited by an 8-0 stretch when the nets lost contact.
The nets became static and immobile at either end of the pitch , while the Raptors shot 12:17 p.m. in that seven-minute barrage, including 7: 9 behind the bow. A Fred Van Vleet pull-up 3-pointer left the nets on a 90-72 hole with 3:53 on the third, a deficit that proved far too steep to climb out.
The Nets bridged the third and fourth quarter and tried to respond with a 14-2 boost. On a pair of Landry Shamet free throws at 10:35, they came within 92-86. But that’s as close as the rest of the night.
A 12-3 Raptors response brought their lead back to 15, and the rest was garbage time. The nets never got closer than five the rest of the way.
The nets pulled by 2½ minutes in 106-101 but couldn’t get over the hump.
Shamet had the start in the background, one Reward for his hot game. After averaging 20.8 points in his last five games, he only shot 3-17 and ended up with 10 points.
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