Jordi Fernández demanded effort from his Nets after they embarrassed themselves through the first four losses off the season.

He got hustle. He got energy. What he didn’t get was victory.

Brooklyn erased a double-digit deficit in the closing minutes and had a chance to tie Wednesday night before falling 117-112 to the visiting Hawks before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center.

Nic Claxton had his best game of the season with 18 points, a dozen rebounds and his first block, but missed a pair of point-blank looks late. And in the end, the Nets stayed winless, falling to 0-5.

Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks defends against Cam Thomas of the Brooklyn Nets during the first half on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. Robert Sabo for NY Post

“We had a way better second half,” said Fernández. “You give yourself a chance, and we were very close to a tip-in or lay-in and still have a two-for-one and have a chance to win.

“So, didn’t go our way at the end, but those are positive steps. And if you think about the defensive struggles and the positive steps on defense — the effort, the energy, the rebounding. Every time that Nic dominates the game on our end with 12 rebounds, eight defensive, that’s what we need. And I’m very happy for him, very proud of him.”

The Nets trailed 113-103 with 4:12 left after a Nickeil Alexander-Walker 3-pointer before they made a final rally. With Hawks star Trae Young leaving the game with a knee injury, the Nets went to a switching defense and it helped produce some results.

Forward Michael Porter Jr. (game-high 32 points, nine boards) sank a pair of free throws to pull the Nets to within 115-112 with 1:28 remaining. And they had a last chance, but couldn’t cash in on it.

Cam Thomas (19 points, 6-of-20 shooting) drove and passed to Claxton in the paint. But the center — who had his first double-double of the season after struggling mightily through the first four games — missed a point-blank look from just 3 feet out with :29.2 left.

Jalen Wilson of the Brooklyn Nets chases a loose ball during the first half on Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Robert Sabo for NY Post

Claxton rebounded his own miss, but couldn’t convert the putback. Dyson Daniels snatched the rebound for Atlanta, and ended the comeback bid.

“Just a hook. That’s just basketball, man. Sometimes you miss easy shots, and in crucial times of the game. This is a part of the game. I can’t dwell on this so much,” said Claxton.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff to clean up: transition defense, pick-and-roll defense. Our defense altogether was astronomically bad. So we got a lot of stuff to work on.”

After coming out of the gate by scoring the game’s first dozen points, Brooklyn saw that momentum flip the game just as quickly.

Nic Claxton of the Brooklyn Nets puts up a shot against the Hawks. Robert Sabo for NY Post

The Nets coughed up an extended 39-15 run to turn a 12-point lead into a dozen-point deficit.

Thomas’ free throw put the Nets up 12-0 with 9:26 left in the first and sent the Hawks into a timeout. But that momentum wouldn’t last.

Brooklyn gave up an extended run, and by the time ex-Knick Kristaps Porzingis had a tip dunk, the Hawks had flown out to a 39-27 edge.

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The Nets’ deficit swelled to 58-41 on Porzingis’ 3-pointer with 3:24 left in the first half. They tried to rally in the second, but to no avail.

Brooklyn came out of intermission and scored the first nine unanswered points. With Egor Dëmin struggling to get by defenders or mount any offense as the backup point guard, Fernández turned to forward Terance Mann to run the attack.

Porter’s running pull-up 3-pointer got the Nets within 70-64 just three minutes into the third quarter. But that’s as close as they got the rest of the way.

By the standards of their historically bad defense, they did manage to get a few stops — but they couldn’t string enough of a run together to ever challenge Atlanta.