Jordi Fernandez reacts strongly to Brooklyn’s loss to the Cavs after the All-Star break

The Brooklyn Nets they looked like a team still on vacation during their first game out of the All-Star break. Jordi Fernandez’s team sleepwalked through a 112-84 loss to impressionable Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday to open the second half of the season.

The game marked the Nets’ eighth NBA loss of the season. Brooklyn was as much as 43 points behind.

“It was everything. Physicality, intensity, all those things we didn’t match up with,” Fernandez said. “Their physicality, their intensity was what it should be for a winning team. We weren’t even close.”

With starting center Nick Claxton has been ruled outThe Nets had no answers for the Cavaliers on both ends during the one-sided loss. They shot 30 of 87 (34.5 percent) from the field and 14 of 49 (28.6 percent) from three.

Brooklyn offered little resistance defensively, as the Cavs shot 44 of 86 (51.2 percent) with seven players reaching double figures.

Nets dominated by Cavs during blowout loss that elevates position in tank race

Brooklyn’s lack of engagement was evident from the opening tip. After a pair of miscommunications on their first two possessions, Fernandez called a timeout 40 seconds into the game in an attempt to wake up his team. He had little success in this.

“It was two errors that were completely controlled, and that just speaks to the readiness of our players. It was a lack of effort and readiness, and I’m not going to let it fly. And we didn’t wake up,” Fernandez said. “We know we’re better, our standards are much higher than this. Now we have to move on to the next one, and hold everyone accountable, including myself, and fight better (Friday in Oklahoma City).”

Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists on 5-of-13 shooting. Ochai Agbaji added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench during his second game with Brooklyn. Danny Wolf had 11 points and seven assists on 4-of-12 shooting, while Yegor Demin had 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.

Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting for Cleveland, while James Harden added 16 points and nine assists on 6-of-8 shooting.

The the loss comes with a silver lining for the Netswho moved into a tie with the Washington Wizards for fourth place in the draft lottery list. Brooklyn is tied in the win column and two back in the loss column of the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans, who are tied for second.

Fernandez’s team will return to action on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.