It could be worse.
The Nets could have left Friday’s 131-87 loss to the Chicago Bulls owners, who have the fewest points in a game this season.
Instead, they left the owners with the fewest points scored in half a year throughout the year.
The Nets scored just 29 points in the first half behind an offense that stuttered from start to finish.
It was a legendary poor performance for the Nets, who were playing for NBA All-Star Weekend in their first game after a 10-day hiatus.
The Nets looked like they were still on vacation. The bulls were ready to roll.
Thanks to Cam Thomas and Seth Curry, the Nets have shot themselves out of even more embarrassment. The 1964-65 Chicago Bulls have the fewest points in a game in NBA history at just 49, a mark the Nets didn’t match until the fourth quarter.
Curry (19 points) and Thomas (22) made it off the bench together for 41 points in garbage time. Those two alone topped the Nets’ overall starting lineup.
And it was a microcosm of the bigger problem for a Nets team trying to salvage the season after trading superstar scorers Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the NBA’s trade deadlines.
Without those superstar scorers, the offense against a Bulls team that held the No. 11 spot in the Eastern Conference was meager.
Mikal Bridges, the highlight of the Durant package, shot off the field for 13 points 4/10. Bridges is highlighted on Jacque Vaughn’s offense: He scored a career-high 45 points against the Miami Heat as he went on the All-Star break – but he also shot just 2 of 8 from the field and gained seven points in Brooklyn’s lopsided loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Cam Johnson, another player the Nets received in the Durant deal, shot 2-of-8 from downtown and 4-of-13 from the field for 10 points.
Spencer Dinwiddie, the ex-Nets point guard the team regained in the Irving deal with the Mavericks, missed all six of his field goals and finished with just two points.
And Dorian Finney-Smith missed all five of his 3s to end with just two points.
Friday night wasn’t a positive step toward building chemistry, but it was a game the Nets need to flush quickly if they hope to retain their playoff team status.
The Nets entered the second half of the season and possessed the seventh-toughest remaining schedule in all of basketball. They will travel to Atlanta at 3 p.m. Sunday to play the Hawks and then host the second-placed Milwaukee Bucks at the Barclays Center on Tuesday.
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