Sorry, Brooklyn. There are no exchanges.
Following three straight losses, Jason Kidd called out his players Monday, saying he believed his underachieving team had become comfortable with losing.
With the opportunity to prove their coach wrong, the Nets showed little resistance while being led to the slaughter, merely trading in a relaxing spot on the beach for a La-Z-Boy recliner in a 95-78 loss to the Bulls in a nationally televised embarrassment on Wednesday afternoon.
“Sometimes it happens, sometimes the response is a little delayed,” said a confused Kidd, following the team’s fifth loss in six games.
And sometimes a response never comes.
Deron Williams led the Nets with 18 points and four assists, while the team shot 35.2 percent from the field in front of a Barclays Center crowd that slowly transformed from apathetic to angry, showering the team with a steady stream of boos throughout the second half.
“I’m surprised at this season how it’s played out altogether,” Williams said. “It’s like a nightmare. The way the injuries have been, the things we talk about every day, the lack of effort, the lack of energy, I didn’t see that being a problem when we put this team together.”
Chicago’s depth presented problems for Brooklyn’s abysmal interior defense. Six Bulls scored in double figures, led by Taj Gibson’s 20 points and eight rebounds.
The Nets — who entered the season with title aspirations — are not who they thought they were.
“We thought we were this championship team, but we’re not showing it right now,” Andray Blatche said. “Getting booed at home, that tells us we’re not. We’re not doing enough.”
Playing the Bulls for the first time since losing Game 7 of the first round of last season’s playoffs to Chicago, the Nets came out strong, opening 7-of-10 from the field to take a 15-7 lead, but they missed nearly every opportunity to stretch it further, hitting five of their next 29 shots.
Blatche shot 1-for-11 from the field and Pierce went 1-for-8 as the Nets bench combined to go 4-for-30. The poor shooting — 2-for-15 in the second quarter — allowed the Bulls to take the lead for good following a 12-0 run, though Williams scored the Nets’ final seven points of the half, cutting the deficit to 41-38.
The Nets’ abysmal offense allowed Chicago to begin its onslaught, but their defense ensured their demise. Brooklyn allowed 36 points in the third quarter to the lowest-scoring team in the league, including 11 from Jimmy Butler, who led a game-sealing 21-5 run.
“Our record shows we’re not a good team right now,” Paul Pierce said. “Our goal is still to improve, but when you’re 9-19, your record speaks for itself.
“It’s tough. [We’re] very frustrated. You want to play with confidence, [but] when things don’t go your way, it seems like they just go south.”
The disparity in passion between the teams was never more evident than when Reggie Evans slowly jogged after a loose ball and was beaten from behind by a sprinting Butler, who drew a foul from Evans on a layup.
“It’s bothered us all year,” Williams said. “ If I had an explanation, we could figure it out and change it.”
The Bulls’ lead eventually ballooned to 23. There would be no Christmas miracle.
And there seems little reason to believe it’s going to be a happy new year.