Nets fall to shorthanded Hornets for sixth straight season-opening loss
This year, the Nets won’t be trying to lose on purpose.But they started the season by doing it anyway.Brooklyn dropped its opener 110-103 to the visiting Hornets before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center on Wednesday night.It was the Nets’ sixth straight season-opening defeat.And it was a deflating one for a team that was trying to put three tough seasons behind it and turn the page.
The Nets had gone through a disappointing 2023-24 followed by two overt tanking seasons, and desperately wanted to come out of the gate well and build some momentum.Losing to a shorthanded, eminently beatable Charlotte team with a grueling six-game gantlet looming risks building all the wrong kinds of momentum.Rookie Mikel Brown Jr.made his debut, but as expected, veterans Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr.
led the way.Randle, acquired to be a floor-raiser, poured in a game-high 33 points, added eight rebounds and doled out a team-high seven assists — joining James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Seth Curry and Orlando Woolridge as the only Nets to notch 20-5-5 in their debuts.Porter shook off a slow start to finish with 24 points, seven boards and three steals, the latter impressive for a player not known for his defense.But it wasn’t enough to overcome their sloppiness or lack of physicality.Brooklyn was outscored 20-8 on second-chance points.Their poor ball movement left them little chance to overcome their poor showing on the glass.The Nets handed out just 22 assists against 22 turnovers, a sure recipe for failure.And this was definitely failure.Against a Hornets team missing Kon Knueppel and Coby White.
And with six straight upcoming against teams projected for 44.5 wins by Las Vegas bookmakers.With the Hornets depleted, the Nets could concentrate on stopping Brandon Miller — but they couldn’t even slow him early.Miller ripped off 12 points right out of the gate, to leave the Nets in a 21-15 hole with 2:37 left in the first quarter.Brooklyn spent much of the rest o...