CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After all of the winning the Nets have done over the past three months, their hopes of winning the Atlantic Division may have evaporated with a pair of overtime losses to sub .500 teams this week.
The Nets followed up an overtime loss in New Orleans on Monday — a game that saw them blow a 22-point second-half lead — with another on Wednesday, falling 116-111 to the Bobcats in front of 15,943 at Time Warner Center.
With the loss, the Nets (37-33) sit 2 ¹/₂ games behind the Raptors for first place in the division with 12 games to go, a deficit that’s really three games because the Nets will lose out to Toronto in virtually every tie-breaker scenario.
“They’re tough losses,” said Deron Williams, who finished with a team-high 29 points — including a game-tying jumper with 26.8 seconds left in regulation. “This was a tough road trip for us. We had three straight overtime games, games that could’ve went either way.
“This was a little easier [to take] just because we didn’t have a 22-point lead, but still … we didn’t make the right plays down the stretch, and we didn’t get stops and we didn’t play our type of defense tonight.”
It was about the worst time for the Nets’ first losing streak since a loss in Indiana on Feb. 1 gave them three straight losses. A porous defense effort — particularly inside against Bobcats big man Al Jefferson — left them scrambling late just to send the game to an extra session.
Jefferson took advantage of the continued absence of Kevin Garnett (who has missed 14 games in a row with back spasms) to torch Mason Plumlee and Andray Blatche, finishing with 35 points and 15 rebounds.
“[The Bobcats] played outstanding,” Paul Pierce said. “Al Jefferson … no one on the planet can guard him. I mean, [shoot]. We tried to double him, single, triple, there’s nothing we could’ve done with him tonight. He was in that type of zone, and that’s the way he’s been playing.
“He’s one of the more underrated players in the game. Hats off to the Bobcats tonight. They made plays. They made tough plays tonight, and sometimes that’s what you’ve got to do to win ballgames. They did it today.”
Williams, who was a game-time decision after sitting out of the shootaround with an undisclosed illness, scored 18 first-quarter points, bringing back memories of his career-high 57 points here two years ago. But he was matched almost point-for-point by Jefferson, who scored 22 in the first half to keep Charlotte in the game, and the Nets went into halftime with a one-point lead.
After the Bobcats led by five going into the fourth, it looked as if they would have a chance to put the game away when Jorge Gutierrez was called for a flagrant-two and ejected for a hard foul on Cody Zeller’s attempted layup. Zeller made both free throws and Josh McRoberts threw down a dunk on the ensuing possession to give Charlotte a 98-90 lead with 6:34 remaining.
The Nets fought back, tying the game when Williams buried a long jumper from the wing with 26.8 seconds left. It initially looked as if he had made a 3-pointer for a 106-105 lead, but his foot was extremely close to the line and, without a conclusive replay angle, the referees determined it was a two-point basket.
“I don’t know,” Williams said when asked if he thought was a 3-pointer. “We only needed two. I came off [a screen], I was open and let it go.
“I wasn’t really concerned with where I was at. I just wanted to get the shot off.”
He did, and the Nets wound up in overtime for a third straight game when Kemba Walker lost the ball going up for a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer. The Nets’ luck ran out in overtime when, trailing 114-111 with less than 20 seconds remaining, Plumlee blocked an attempted layup by McRoberts — only to have it land right in the hands of Chris Douglas-Roberts, who hit a jumper with 10.1 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
“The only thing I could do differently was grab it,” Plumlee said. “I don’t know. He hit a big shot. Hats off to him.
“But if we hit shots before that, if I don’t let Jefferson get that layup. You have to look at the whole game, not just look at the last play.”