The Brooklyn Nets are spiraling, and Sunday’s 126-89 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Clippers was another gut punch in a season that’s starting to feel like a free fall. For the second time in three games, the Nets didn’t just lose - they were overwhelmed, outclassed, and ultimately out of the game before it ever really began.
Let’s be clear: rebuilding seasons come with growing pains. But there’s a difference between taking lumps and simply not showing up. Head coach Jordi Fernandez knows that, and he didn’t sugarcoat it.
“We won the third quarter, and we were competitive for the last six minutes of the second,” Fernandez said postgame. “Outside of that?
We played like a losing team. You can lose and still compete.
But for 30 minutes tonight, we were just losers.”
That’s a harsh truth, but it’s also an honest one - and it cuts to the heart of where the Nets are right now. This wasn’t just a bad night. It was a step backward after what looked like a brief pulse of fight in Friday’s double-overtime loss to the Celtics.
From the opening tip, the Clippers set the tone. They blitzed Brooklyn with a 38-14 first quarter, and the game was essentially over before the second frame even began.
Kawhi Leonard and James Harden carved up the Nets’ defense with ease, combining for 35 points on 10-of-18 shooting in the first half. Brooklyn simply had no answers.
Offensively, things weren’t any better. The Clippers’ defense keyed in on Michael Porter Jr., throwing double teams at him and forcing the ball out of his hands.
The strategy worked. Porter, who’s been one of Brooklyn’s few consistent scoring threats, finished with just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting in 21 minutes - one of his quietest outings of the season.
“They were just the better team tonight,” Porter admitted. “They dominated us last game, and they dominated us tonight.
We’ve got to get back to competing every night - players, bench, coaches, everyone. I could’ve done a better job.
Our starters could’ve done a better job. It was just an all-around bad effort.”
The numbers back him up. Brooklyn shot just 34.1% from the field and a brutal 20.9% from deep (9-of-43).
The team’s four active rookies - Egor Demin, Drake Powell, Danny Wolf, and Ben Saraf - combined to go 10-of-35 from the floor. And while development is the priority for a young core like this, the growing pains are starting to sting a little more when the losses pile up like this.
This isn’t an isolated incident either. Just a few days ago, the Nets were the punchline of the league after getting thumped by 54 points against the Knicks.
That was followed by the aforementioned gritty showing against Boston - a game that hinted at progress. But Sunday’s performance?
That felt like a reset to square one.
Since their 7-3 stretch in December, the Nets have dropped 14 of their last 16 games. Over that span, they’ve posted the worst net rating in the league at -14.0. That’s not just losing - that’s getting beat consistently, and often by wide margins.
Fernandez, to his credit, is still preaching accountability and long-term vision.
“It’s part of life, part of learning, and part of finding the next Nets,” he said. “We believe in what we’re building here.
Great ownership, great management - we’re aligned. But we need the right pieces on the floor competing to a certain standard.
One out of three games being competitive isn’t good enough. We need to be three-for-three, win or lose.”
That’s the message he’s trying to drill into this young group. Compete first.
Results come later. And right now, the Nets are struggling to meet even that baseline.
With Sunday’s loss, Brooklyn now sits fifth in the draft lottery standings - but they’re neck-and-neck with the Pelicans and Kings, who currently hold the third and fourth spots. That’s the silver lining in a season like this: the worse it gets, the better the lottery odds. But that’s not the kind of culture Fernandez is trying to build.
He’s not coaching for ping pong balls. He’s coaching for habits, for identity, for something these young Nets can hang their hats on when the scoreboard isn’t in their favor.
Because at the end of the day, rebuilding isn’t just about acquiring talent. It’s about instilling competitiveness, even in the darkest stretches. And right now, Brooklyn’s got a long way to go.