The Nets suffered a heartbreaking defeat at State Farm Arena, losing 129-127 to the Hawks.
The Nets had been previously beaten by the Bulls, and were down by 18 points in the second quarter before rallying.
Dorian Finney-Smith’s 3-pointer pulled Brooklyn within 127-124 with 48.3 seconds left, and when they forced a miss from Trae Young and Spencer Dinwiddie snatched the rebound, they had a chance to tie.
Cam Johnson made it count, and Finney-Smith found him open in the left corner for a game-tying 3-pointer with 7.8 seconds left in regulation.
However, the Nets couldn’t hold on to reach overtime.
Young finished with a game-high 34 points, and Brooklyn fell to 1-4 since trading Kevin Durant to Phoenix for Bridges, Johnson, and draft picks.
Joe Prunty, a former Jason Kidd assistant, is currently standing in as Hawks interim coach after the team fired Nate McMillan.
Chances are fired Nets coaches Kenny Atkinson and Steve Nash can empathize.
Atlanta big man John Collins put the Nets in 18-point holes, the second at 57-39 with 5:36 left in the half. Brooklyn allowed 57 per cent shooting, and 9 of 15 from 3-point range, which was a sure recipe for defeat.
After going behind by 18, Brooklyn tightened the vise and held the Hawks to just 4 of 19 shooting in an extended 35-14 run that spanned intermission.
A Finney-Smith putback of his miss put the Nets ahead 72-71 with 8:18 left in the third, their first lead since early in the contest.
And after he rebounded a Collins miss, a Nic Claxton driving layup capped the run and pushed it to 74-71 just 36 seconds later.
Thomas’ free throw handed Brooklyn a 92-89 edge with 1:10 left in the third, but they couldn’t hold it.
The Nets fought on, but ultimately they couldn’t hold on.
»Nets suffers heartbreaking defeat at State Farm Arena, losing 129-127 to the Hawks«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯