The Brooklyn Nets were in prime position to snap a six-game losing streak on Saturday. Leading a Charlotte Hornets team without LaMelo Ball by fourteen with seven minutes remaining, a victory appeared certain. However, Jordi Fernandez’s squad took its foot off the gas, and the wheels quickly fell off.
The Hornets closed the game on a 22-5 run to secure a 105-102 victory, just their third in their last 22 games. Brooklyn shot 2-of-12 from the field with three turnovers while allowing Charlotte to shoot 8-of-14 over the final seven minutes.
“I thought that everybody just relaxed and thought that this was over,” Fernandez said. “We were lazy, we didn’t touch the paint enough times, our spacing was poor. We score 44 points in the second half after almost scoring 60 in the first, it’s hard to win in the NBA like that. You gotta play faster, you gotta defend, you gotta rebound. This is not who we’ve been or who we want to be. I give them credit because they wanted it more than us… Obviously, watching film on this one is gonna be a fun one.”
Despite their lethargic stretch after building a double-digit fourth quarter lead, the Nets had several chances to win the game in the closing minutes.
Nets blow 14-point fourth quarter lead against shorthanded Hornets
After the Hornets went ahead 103-102 with 1:34 remaining, the Nets had multiple opportunities to regain the lead. However, they missed back-to-back threes on the following possession. After they forced a turnover, Cam Thomas missed an ill-advised sidestep three with 34 seconds.
Brooklyn got another stop to set up a potential game-winning possession, but Thomas had a floater blocked by Miles Bridges out of a timeout. The fourth-year guard had a cutting Trendon Watford open for a layup on the play but did not see him.
Cam Thomas gets rejected by Miles Bridges on a potential game-winner as the Hornets close on a 22-5 run to steal a win over the Nets.
That’s the worst (or best) loss of the season for Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/OboBpBWBxs
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) March 9, 2025
D’Angelo Russell scored a game-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting with seven assists and one turnover. He scored Brooklyn’s first 15 points of the fourth quarter.
Thomas posted 16 points on 8-of-18 shooting with three assists and two turnovers during his fourth game back from a hamstring injury. The 24-year-old was scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting in the fourth quarter. Ziaire Williams added 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 from three.
The Nets were without Cam Johnson, who missed the game due to knee soreness.
Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 26 points and five assists on 9-of-20 shooting. Nick Smith Jr. added 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting, while Moussa Diabate posted 16 points and 15 rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting. The Hornets won the offensive rebounding battle 22-8 on their way to a 34-9 advantage in second-chance points.
The loss marked the Nets’ seventh straight following a 7-2 stretch in early February. It dropped them four games back of the Chicago Bulls for the Eastern Conference’s play-in spot while moving them into a tie with the Toronto Raptors for fifth place in the draft lottery standings.
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