SLIPPING AWAY: The Nets’ Reggie Evans fails to come up with a loose ball during yesterday’s 142-134 triple-overtime loss to the Bulls in Chicago. (NBAE/Getty Images)
CHICAGO — Deron Williams sat in a quiet Nets locker room with his feet in an ice bucket, staring out at nothing. It was as if he were replaying in his mind the nightmare he had just witnessed.
Coming to grips with how the Nets managed to turn what seemed a certain victory into a demoralizing defeat won’t be easy. Their horror show at the United Center yesterday will play like a scary movie with the same ending, a 142-134 triple-overtime loss to the Bulls and a 3-1 deficit in their best-of-seven series.
Interim coach P.J. Carlesimo called it “a killer.” Joe Johnson used the word “heart-breaker.” Williams said it simply was “frustrating.”
Truth is it shouldn’t have been that surprising. The Nets have been a streaky team throughout these playoffs and for much of the regular season. They can go from hot to cold within one quarter, much less within a game.
That was evident in Game 3 when they jumped out to a 17-5 lead and wound up getting trounced. Yesterday, they owned the game with three minutes to go in regulation, up by 14 points with C.J. Watson heading for a fast break basket.
For most teams, it would have been the dagger to empty the building and send the series back to Brooklyn tied 2-2. But Watson missed the dunk, Reggie Evans missed two free throws and Nate Robinson turned into Superman. Just like that, the Nets are on the brink of elimination.
“I don’t think it would be possible to overstate it,” Carlesimo said of the momentum shift caused by Watson’s missed dunk.
Yes, it was a key play. But it’s symptomatic of the Nets. If they couldn’t win the NBA title, the one thing the Nets hoped for was to leave a positive impression from their first playoff experience as the Brooklyn Nets. Advancing to the second round would have been ideal or even losing to the Bulls in a grueling six or seven games might have been acceptable. But the Nets are ruining a positive regular season by coming up small mentally and physically against the Bulls.
Up 109-95, they couldn’t make a dunk to extend their lead. Then they couldn’t make enough free throws or enough baskets to stop the Bulls momentum created when the 5-foot-9 Robinson scored 23 points in the fourth quarter and 35 points for the game.
“We made a lot of mistakes in the fourth quarter,” Williams said. “When you go up 14 with three minutes left to you’ve got to find a way to put the game away.”
Instead the Nets found a way to lose it, which reminds you of the old organization in New Jersey. The Brooklyn Nets are trying to build a new identity — a winning one — but they’ve been playing like the same old Nets in this series.
“We’ve got to play 48 minutes. We haven’t played 48 minutes since the first game,” forward Gerald Wallace said. “We lose focus on a possession here and a possession there. We have to have mental focus for 24 seconds on the shot clock and 48 minutes in the game.”
The Nets were focused for about 43 minutes of regulation surging to that big lead. Williams (32 points) found his game. He was aggressive, penetrating the lane when he wasn’t coming off screens for jumpers. Wallace, who complained before the game he didn’t know what his role was, found a way to contribute 17 points, and Brook Lopez was holding his own against the Bulls’ front line, totaling 26 points and 11 rebounds. When Williams blocked a shot by Kirk Hinrich. leading to a transition dunk by Wallace, the Nets were ahead 109-95. Some in the United Center crowd actually headed for the exits.
But Watson missed the ensuing dunk attempt, and that was enough for the Nets to crack.
Credit the Bulls and Robinson for not giving up. But the Nets need to search deep inside to figure out what’s missing. We’re finding out in this series the Brooklyn Nets can still play a lot like the New Jersey Nets.