The Nets saw their modest winning streak come to an end Thursday night at Barclays Center, blowing a late lead in a 123-110 collapse against the also-tanking Jazz.
In what promises to be a league-wide tankathon, whoever is the most committed may win.
And the Nets showed some signs of strategic long-term commitment, resting Michael Porter Jr. in a clash that could have real implications in the all-important draft lottery.
The Nets fell to 5-17, now tied for fourth in the lottery odds with the Kings.
Despite improved play, the Nets aren’t changing lanes.
They’re still full speed ahead with their tank.
But Porter had been so good for them, he’s begging questions no one ever thought would need to be asked, much less answered.
A. Is he playing so well that he endangers the Nets’ tanking?
B. If so, do they have to trade him away to ensure their future rebuild, or can he actually become a part of that rebuilt future?
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Those are the sort of decisions that the Nets may have to start mulling sooner rather than later.
That inflection point may be approaching faster than expected.
They rested Porter to manage his sore lower back.
Without him, their offense couldn’t buy a basket when they really needed one.
Up by as many as 15 points, and 90-79 with a half-minute left in the third quarter, the Nets went ice-cold over Utah’s 33-13 extended run.
Noah Clowney had a Nets-high 29 points, the second-highest scoring game of his career.
Ziaire Williams added 23 and rookie Danny Wolf posted 17 with nine rebounds.
But they sorely missed Porter in the fourth quarter, when he has taken over and won games.
Lauri Markkanen scored a game-high 30 for the Jazz, who are 8-13 and could owe their pick to the Thunder.
It’s top-eight protected, and they now sit ninth from the bottom of the league standings.
After Clowney rebounded a Keyonte George miss, Wolf drilled a right-corner 3 to put the Nets up 77-72.
Rookie Ben Saraf’s steal and breakaway dunk capped the blitz to make it 83-74.
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And another Saraf swipe led to Wolf’s baseline drive that pushed it to 90-79 with 31.8 seconds left in the third.
But the Nets couldn’t hold on.
They promptly allowed a 12-2 run, with New Jersey native Kyle Anderson cutting their lead to 93-91 with 8:40 to play.
And when George found Kyle Filipowski for a 3-pointer to cap the run, the Nets had seen their lead turned into a 98-97 deficit with 7:32 to play.
Knotted at 98-98, Wolf saw a turnover on a risky cross-court pass turn into a tiebreaking George 3-pointer.
The Nets wilted down the stretch, with bad body language and tired legs on the tail end of a back-to-back.
