Brooklyn’s clutch struggles spoil another potential win

The The Brooklyn Nets have proven they can hang with playoff-caliber teams over the last five games. However, closing out those games has been a struggle that highlights how far they are from being a complete team.

Brooklyn’s late-game ineptitude reared its head again during Sunday’s 119-109 loss to the team. Toronto Raptors. After trailing 12-0 early in the game and 70-58 early in the third quarter, the Nets came back to tie the game at 94-94 with 4:24 left. That was as close as it got, though, as the Raptors went on a 15-5 run to seal their seventh straight win.

While Brooklyn’s late-game struggles have become a recurring theme, Jordi Fernandez pointed to the bad starts of his team on quarters when assessing the loss.

“It just started with our intentions from the beginning. We weren’t ready to play. If you pick and choose, then the basketball gods say, ‘Everything falls into place,'” Fernandez said. “And obviously, there’s been a couple of plays where we come off the baseline, open the three, there’s no pressure on the ball (and) they make the three. But forget the coverages, it’s just a matter of our starting unit starting 12-0 in the first quarter and 5-0 in the third quarter.

“So to start the first half and to start the second, we’re down 17. I trust those guys, and those guys did a great job. We fought and we fought for the game, but if you put yourself in that situation, it’s really tough. We came out with no energy and it’s not the way you want to start games.”

Despite Fernandez pinning down the Nets’ slow start on Sunday, his team’s struggles proved costly.

The Nets come crashing down again in the final minutes during a loss to the Raptors

After Michael Porter Jr.’s late-game heroics during Friday’s win over the Boston Celtics, the Nets went ice-cold down the stretch in Toronto. They shot 2-of-7 from the field and 1-of-5 from three with two turnovers over the final 4:24. Meanwhile, they couldn’t get a stop at the other end, allowing the Raptors to shoot 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from three to close out the game.

Before the win in Boston, Brooklyn took advantage in the fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic and the Celtics. The Nets are outmatched 42-25 in 18 minutes (the last five minutes of a five-point game) this season. They shot 10 of 36 (27.8 percent) from the field and 2 of 14 (14.3 percent) from three in the clutch.

While the Nets have played an improved brand of basketball of late, their lack of offensive creators remains evident late in games. Porter Jr. carried a huge load on offense, but is not a natural ball handler or creator. With Cam Thomas was sidelined with a hamstring injuryBrooklyn was forced to rely on rookie Egor Demin and journeymen Terrence Mann and Tyrese Martin to orchestrate their offense.

Martin led the Nets with 26 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 from three on Sunday. Porter Jr. continued his high-level playhe scored 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting with six rebounds, four assists and one turnover. The same goes for Noah Clowney, who scored 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

Scotty Barnes led the Raptors with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while RJ Barrett and Ja’Kobe Walter each added 16. Toronto had eight players reach double figures in the win.