Nets continue frigid new year on road trip

Former Net James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers ran out to a big lead and never looked back on Sunday. AP Photo by Jae C. Hong

The Nets picked the perfect time to leave our frigid borough for a five-game road trip through several time zones, including the balmy West Coast.

But even as Brooklynites continue to shovel themselves out of this week’s massive winter storm, the Nets haven’t heated up a bit in January.

Another embarrassingly slow start manifested itself into the Nets’ latest loss, their 12th in 14 games this month, a 126-89 manhandling Sunday at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers in front of 17,827 fans at the Intuit Dome.

While Brooklyn began bracing for a gruesome Monday morning of snow excavation, the Nets (12-32) found themselves in La-La Land, basking in 70 degree temperatures.

That didn’t help them get the ball in the basket, especially after weathering a pair of overtimes before falling to the Boston Celtics, 130-126, at Downtown’s Barclays Center on Friday.

For the second time in three games, including last Wednesday’s 120-66 defeat to the East River rival New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Brooklyn was outplayed from start to finish.

Kawhi Leonard poured in 28 points and former Net James Harden added 19 as the Clippers won for the eighth time in their past nine games while dropping Brooklyn to 0-1 on its trip and extending its losing streak to five games.

The Nets haven’t lost six in a row since opening the season 0-7 en route to a 3-16 start that appeared to be the worst stretch this rebuild would offer.

Until January, that is.

Brooklyn put together a 7-4 December behind the emergence of its rookie “Fab Five”, All-Star worthy Michael Porter Jr.’s leadership and a belief that coach Jordi Fernández’s “one percent better” mantra was taking hold.

None of it has carried over into 2026.

The Nets’ defense has taken a precipitous dive in the rankings, as has the team’s viability as a potential play-in tournament contender.

The Clippers (21-24) roared out to a 38-14 lead after 12 minutes and opened the advantage to 38 points before halftime.

And the Nets didn’t come close to shoveling themselves out of that deficit.

Nets rookie Ben Saraf can only watch as Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard goes up for two of his 28 points in Los Angeles on Sunday. AP Photo by Jae C. Hong

First-round picks Danny Wolf and Egor Dëmin led the Brooklyn attack with 14 and 12 points, respectively. However, that duo combined to shoot a dismal 6-for-24 just to give the Nets their only two scorers in double figures.

“It’s part of life and part of learning and part of finding the next Nets,” said Fernández, whose team allowed Los Angeles to shoot 56% from the field, including 12-of-25 from 3-point range.

Brooklyn went 9-of-43 from beyond the arc, got outrebounded 51-36 and was outscored in the paint by a whopping 58-38 margin.

Fernández’s revelation regarding the “next Nets” might point to lineup changes and playing-time alterations in lieu of the team’s inability to seriously compete at an NBA level in two of the past three contests.

“We know and believe that we have the right vision here of doing what we want to do and being successful as an organization with great ownership and management,” he noted.

“And we’re obviously going to need the right pieces on the floor, the play-and-compete is a certain standard. And right now, out of three games, one out of three as far as being competitive is not good enough.”

Losers of 10 of their last 11 since a stirring home win over Porter’s former teammates from Denver at Barclays Center, the Nets will be in Phoenix on Tuesday night to take on a Suns team that scorched them 126-117 on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush on Jan. 19.

Dillon Brooks led the way for Phoenix in the initial meeting with 27 points and Devin Booker added 23 for the Suns, who will try to snap a two-game slide when they host the Nets at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Brooklyn forward Noah Clowney will miss the game with a back injury and reserve shooting guard Cam Thomas is listed as probable with an ankle issue.

The Suns will be without Booker until next month due to an ankle injury and guard Jalen Green will be a game-time decision with a sore hamstring.

Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. ET.

Until then, Fernández and his players will have to shape up or shovel off to Denver on Friday trying to avoid matching their longest skid of the season.

“I brought this up before: You can lose, and you can be a loser,” Fernández said. “… So we have to decide what we want to be and who we want to be.”

Brooklyn rookie Egor Dëmin is headed to All-Star weekend in Los Angeles next month to compete in the Rising Stars Challenge. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

NOTHING BUT NET: There was some good news about the Nets on Monday as the NBA revealed that Dëmin was named to the Castrol Rising Stars roster as part of NBA All-Star 2026 in L.A. next month. While Porter is a candidate to come off the bench as a reserve during the Feb. 15 NBA All-Star Game, the 19-year-old Dëmin will be the first Brooklyn player in the Rising Stars event since Rodions Kurucs and Jarrett Allen in 2019. The first of the Nets’ historic haul of five first-round picks is averaging 10.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists in while shooting 39.9 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from 3-point range and 85.0 percent from the free-throw line in his first 39 games as a pro. … Center Nic Claxton had six points and six boards in 24 minutes during Sunday’s loss to the Clippers. He was playing with a fractured pinkie suffered in the double-OT thriller vs. Boston here last Friday. … After visiting the Nuggets on Thursday, the Nets will be in Utah on Friday and Detroit on Sunday before returning to Barclays to host the L.A. Lakers on Feb. 3.

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