If Kenny Atkinson’s admonition that the Nets hadn’t accomplished anything yet didn’t wake them up, these last few losses should.
If they don’t get their heads right, they won’t need to worry about playoff positioning.
Despite the return of Spencer Dinwiddie from thumb surgery, the Nets again played like a team with no urgency, one that’s seen its edge dulled by the tiniest taste of success. And they got stung by a desperate Hornets team, a 123-112 loss at Barclays Center on Friday that was as ugly as it was predictable.
“We’ve given up 68 points in the first half two games in a row — it starts on the defensive end,” Atkinson said. “It’s not about the lineups or working guys back in from injury. It’s about defense, and we have to do a better job on that end. Right now, we just aren’t getting it done.
“The other teams are very urgent. We should look at every game the same. This is the NBA, and this time of year, teams really start to make a push. Every team has risen their level, but our level has stayed the same or even been below what it was. That’s not going to get it done.”
The Nets trailed by as many as 21 points and put up no defensive resistance in allowing 53.2 percent shooting.
After dropping three of their past five home games — to the Bulls, Wizards and Hornets, all of whom sat in the lottery coming in — the Nets had better worry less about postseason seeds and more about regular-season wins.
Kemba Walker drives past D’Angelo Russell during the Nets’ loss.AP“Just all-around (defense), everything,’’ said Dinwiddie, who had 15 points and four assists in his first game since Jan. 25. “(You allow) 68 points, it’s probably not just one thing that happened. Of course. We want to be an 82-0-type team. We want to be a championship team. These last couple losses, these last couple games are indicative of that, so we have to be better.”
Much better. Kemba Walker score a game-high 25 points with seven assists for the Hornets (29-33) while Jeremy Lamb added 22 off the bench.
D’Angelo Russell had a team-high 22 points and nine assists for the Nets (32-32), and DeMarre Carroll added 20.
The Nets’ lead over the Pistons for sixth place in the East shriveled to a single game. They’re two games clear of the eighth-place Hornets and just 2 ½ ahead of the ninth-place Magic. The Nets visit the Heat on Saturday.
“A win. We’ve got to win, flat-out. Go get it,” said Russell, who added that the Nets’ back-to-back losses serve as a reminder they haven’t arrived yet.
“Yeah, definitely. … We’re losing, so it’s a great way of us looking in the mirror and not getting complacent or settling. We’ve got to go get it.”
The hungrier Hornets went and got it Friday.
The Nets led 41-39 after Allen Crabbe hit a 3-pointer with 8:27 left in the second quarter, but then they went the next 5 ½ minutes unable to buy a stop.
The Nets gave up a 23-5 run that essentially ended the game. They went just 2-of-7 with six turnovers. Those gaffes — and their lack of transition defense — got the Hornets flying on the fast break.
The Nets let the Hornets hit 10 of 13 from the floor in that game-changing run. Walker hit all three of his shots, notched three steals and found Lamb for a driving layup and a 62-46 lead with 2:57 left in the half.
Brooklyn trailed 98-79 on Lamb’s stepback jumper with 2:08 left in the third before scoring the final seven points in the quarter and getting a follow dunk from Rodions Kurucs to open the fourth to make it 98-88. They got within single digits when Russell’s three free throws made it 104-95 with 8:49 to play. But that’s as close as they got.
“We have to really lock in, play with a little more intensity, play with a little more effort,” Crabbe said.
