The Nets couldn’t have been any sloppier with the ball Sunday if they were preoccupied thinking about the Super Bowl.
Poor passes. Pockets picked. Lost dribbles. Oh, and they lost the game, 103-95, at the hands of the shorthanded, struggling Raptors.
The Nets (9-42) have lost nine consecutive games and a dozen straight at home.
Toronto’s All-Star guard Kyle Lowry had a triple double with 15 points, 11 boards and 11 assists, and center Jonas Valanciunas had 22 points and led the pivotal run. But the Nets threw this away as much as the Raptors (31-21) won it.
The Nets committed 22 turnovers to hand the Raptors 25 points. They had more turnovers than made baskets at halftime, committing 16 turnovers and making just 14 buckets while shooting 36.8 percent.
“Now we’re struggling offensively,’’ coach Kenny Atkinson admitted. “So now we’ve got to figure that one out, find that balance where our offense and our defense are clicking at the same time.
“We’ll have to do a better job of balancing our focus and not dipping too far one way. We’ve dipped offensively. Some of it has to do with a lot of different lineups we’re throwing out there for various reasons. … The turnovers are the ones that are hurting us right now.”
Since the Nets had lost 119-109 to Toronto on Jan. 17, the Raptors had lost eight of 10 games. All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan – averaging 27.8 points per game – has missed seven of their last eight games with a knee injury, and Patrick Patterson was out Sunday with one as well. Lowry was playing through flu-like symptoms.
When center Brook Lopez (team-high 20 points) picked up two quick offensive in the span of a minute and had to go to the bench with three personals, the Nets were down just 38-36. Sean Kilpatrick (18 points) hit a 3 to give them a one-point lead with 4:43 left in the first half.
But Brooklyn conceded a 17-2 run that was costly in more ways than one. During Toronto’s spurt, Quincy Acy sprained his left ankle, appearing to roll it on the foot of Terrence Ross (17 points).
The Nets missed six straight shots and committed four turnovers in Toronto’s run. Valanciunas scored eight points in that spurt, and DeMarre Carroll’s 3-pointer left the Nets in a 55-41 hole with 44 seconds left in the half.
Brooklyn trailed 81-65 in the fourth when they made one last run. Trevor Booker (15 points, 10 boards) hit Bojan Bogdanovic for a cutting layup to get the Nets within 84-80 with 5:23 left. But Toronto answered with an 8-2 run and held on.
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