The Nets’ surprising attempt against the undefeated Cavaliers fails

CLEVELAND – The Nets played back-to-back games against the NBA’s reigning champions and the league’s only undefeated team. They both led late before falling agonizingly behind.

A night after an overtime loss in Boston, the Nets suffered another tough result, a heartbreaking 105-100 defeat in front of a frenzied crowd at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

The Nets (4-6) lost to the Cavaliers in their first matchup with Kenny Atkinson as head coach since being fired in 2020.

He got the last laugh as Cleveland came back from a deficit to go 11-0 and lead the league.

The Nets played as daunting a matchup as you can get, nearly drawing a lead in Boston before falling to the defending champion Celtics in overtime. A night later it was the red-hot Cavs.

The Nets led by seven points with 4:09 left before allowing 10 unanswered points and the lead. Dennis Schroder’s free throws got them back to 99-98 with 1:39 to play, but Darius Garland’s jumper put them back in a three-point hole.

Cam Thomas (22 points) made a tough baseline fade to put the Nets up 101-100, but Ty Jerome again made it the third lead.

When Schroder (22 points) missed a potential 3-pointer with 27.8 left in regulation time, there was no overtime this time.

Cam Johnson led the Nets with 23 points. His sixth consecutive turnover-free 30-minute game with multiple three-pointers set an NBA record.

Evan Mobley had 23 points for the Cavs, while Donovan Mitchell added 22.

“Right now I think they’re playing like the best team in the NBA,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said before the game. “It’s pretty obvious their offense was great. If the season were over now, they would be the best offense in NBA history, which shows how well they play and have size, switchability and rim protection defensively. So it will be a good challenge for us.

“Our group has built this chemistry. And obviously no one likes that [lose]but especially our group where we feel like we could have been better and now we move on to the next game. That’s the beauty of the NBA. If you really care, if you’re really competitive and you’ve been that close, you’ll have the next opportunity, the next day with a back to back. So come here and be ready to fight. We’ve done it so far, but it doesn’t mean anything. We have to do it again.”

Thomas saw the Cavaliers come at him with two defenders, trying to get physical and knock him out of the game. It worked for most of the first half, when he was a quiet 1 of 6 with two turnovers, but it helped lead an attack back into the game.

After trailing by six, the Nets took a 9-0 win in Cleveland and saw the deficit suddenly balloon to 15.

The Nets trailed 52-37 with 6:30 left in the half after former Net player Caris LeVert hit Darius Garland for an open 3-pointer.

They then went on a lengthy 33-5 run in the second half to change the game. They strung together 15 unanswered points from the dressing room, capped by Schroder’s search for Thomas for a three.

This gave the Nets a 70-57 lead with 7:43 left in the third quarter, and they spent the rest of the game defending that lead.

The Nets saw the lead shrink late in the fourth, and a Nic Claxton turnover led to a LeVert leak-out dunk that put Cleveland up 91-89 with 5:31 to play.

When Schroder missed a 3-pointer, the Cavs had a chance to tie or take the lead.

But Dorian Finney-Smith shot for the offensive rebound and his return stopped the bleeding.

Then Johnson hit a 3-pointer to push the Nets’ lead back to 96-89 with 4:24 left in regulation.

A turnover by Schroder led to a jumper by Garland, cutting the lead to 96-95.

And his free throws completely wiped out the lead, giving Cleveland a 97-96 lead with 2:31 left.

Thomas lost the ball out of bounds and Garland hit Mobley for a dunk and a 99-96 lead. The Nets never recovered.