It will be another six months before the Nets find out if this was all worth it. The Yankees and Mets will be dozens of games into their next seasons before the Nets see if pingpong balls bounce their way and help deliver a franchise-changing talent.
Until then, the greatest suspense of this season is the date of the Nets’ first win.
Despite one of their stronger efforts of this young and hopeless campaign, the Nets dropped their seventh straight game to open the season in a 125-109 loss to the Anthony Edwards-less Timberwolves on Monday night at Barclays Center.
The Nets (0-7) matched the franchise’s worst start in 10 years — having lost by an average of nearly 16 points per game — and are nearly halfway to the worst start in NBA history, an 0-18 skid produced by the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets. Their next chance to end the winless streak comes Wednesday at Indianapolis against the injury-ravaged Pacers (1-6).
Despite 25 points from from Cam Thomas, a strong all-around effort from Nic Claxton (19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) and a season-best output from Noah Clowney (15 points, six rebounds, two steals), the Nets — playing without Michael Porter Jr., who was out due to personal reasons — were doomed by their league-worst defense, allowing the Timberwolves (4-3) to shoot over 56 percent from the field despite the absence of their superstar guard.
Julius Randle recorded a triple-double (19 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), Rudy Gobert put up a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Donte DiVincenzo had a team-high 25 points on 6-of-13 shooting from deep.
“I think the energy in the group was great,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernández said. “It’s part of life, you have to embrace adversity and try to figure it out. If we play like this we’re gonna start seeing wins. That’s the identity we want to show, when we fight and fight and play the right way … You can build from this. Things don’t change overnight. Right now we’re seeing positive steps. That’s what I want to keep seeing from the group.”
Despite improved effort from the previous night’s blowout loss to the 76ers, the Nets still surrendered dozens of uncontested looks on the perimeter and at the rim. The Timberwolves shot 40 percent from deep (14-of-35) and finished with 56 points in the paint.
Ziaire Williams’ 3-pointer to close the first quarter left the teams tied at 28, marking the first time this season that the Nets weren’t trailing after the opening quarter. The 63-59 halftime deficit was the Nets’ best first half showing this season.
“I think we looked a lot better,” Clowney said. “We looked like a team today.”
The deficit grew to double digits in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Nets went off script, fighting back before a crowd of 17,287, taking an 88-87 lead in the final minutes of the third quarter. Minnesota, though, quickly regained momentum with timely shooting and dominance on the glass (53-40), while the Nets struggled offensively in the final quarter and finished 25-of-38 on free throws.
“I thought we took really positive steps,” Fernández said. “You saw the fight and the purpose … I’m really proud of these guys for keeping fighting. Even when we were down, we punched back and we took the lead and then at the end, they’re big and very good defensively. Some of our shots didn’t go in. They were good shots but they didn’t go in. But I’m really proud of the effort and togetherness. Those are the right steps to take. Those things don’t change overnight. It’s a process and right now I feel like the process has started and now we gotta do it again and do it better.”
