On the second leg of back-to-back road contests, Brooklyn suffered its worst loss in franchise history Wednesday with a 126-67 disaster against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The previous franchise record, which went untouched for over 46 years, was a 52-point loss to Houston in October 1978. Unsurprisingly, the Nets broke into the NBA's all-time blunders, too, as the 59-point blowout is tied for the 10th-largest defeat in NBA history.
Brooklyn also became the first team since the 2016 Mavericks to get held under 68 points. The infamous starting lineup? Tyrese Martin, Keon Johnson, Ziaire Williams, Noah Clowney and Nic Claxton.
Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez was quick to admit a lot of things went wrong inside the Intuit Dome, but after an embarrassment of this magnitude, it goes without noting that's a vast understatement.
"The energy and competitive spirit was not there," Fernandez said. "That's plain and simple. Right now, the only thing I can do is support my guys. It's never a good experience to go through this, but analyzing the whole season, none of our guys work for this. They've competed the whole time, so all I can do is support them, obviously own this myself as well, and then show up the next day and try to be better."
Fernandez added that if this monumental loss somehow ignites the group and makes Brooklyn even one percent better, he'll take it.
Jordi Fernández speaks to the media on the Nets' energy vs Clippers pic.twitter.com/uGxWGArK2y
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) January 16, 2025
Former Nets guard James Harden posted 21 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and two steals for the Clippers, while star forward Kawhi Leonard contributed a game-high 23 points on 72.7 percent shooting from the field in 24 minutes.
Zero starters reached double-digit scoring figures for Brooklyn. Instead, two bench players led the Nets in production – Jalen Wilson (team-high 16 points) and Day'Ron Sharpe (12 points, 14 rebounds). The team shot 30.1 percent as a whole, and a more disappointing 17.9 percent from three-point range, alongside 22 abysmal turnovers.
Los Angeles even led the Nets by as many as 64 points at one point.
List of Brooklyn players OUT against the Clippers: Bojan Bogdanovic (left foot), De'Anthony Melton (left ACL), Trendon Watford (left hamstring), Maxwell Lewis (left tibia), Cam Thomas (left hamstring), Ben Simmons (lower back), Cameron Johnson (right ankle) and D'Angelo Russell (right shin).
Brooklyn falls to 14-27 on the season after its West Coast debacle, battling with Portland (13-26) both three games back from top-five NBA Draft Lottery odds. As it stands, the Nets have a 7.5 percent chance of winning the No. 1 overall pick and a 32 percent chance of landing inside the top four selections.
The Trail Blazers (9%), Jazz (10.5%), Raptors (12.5%), Hornets (14%), Pelicans (14%) and Wizards (14%) all currently have better odds to win the lottery.
Next up, Brooklyn heads across the street to Crypto.com Arena for a Friday night matchup against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.