Nets’ 105-93 loss at Knicks comes down to another poor fourth quarter
NEW YORK — One of the common themes throughout this season for the Brooklyn Nets has been faltering in the fourth quarter after a good performance through the first 36 minutes. The Nets seem to find a different way to lose a game in the end and that has been there all season, unfortunately.
“They went for every offensive rebound, got every offensive rebound, got every loose ball, they just wanted it more,” Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie said after Saturday’s 105-93 loss at the New York Knicks. Brooklyn went into the fourth quarter trailing 80-77, but once the fourth quarter happened, things got away from the Nets in a hurry.
“In those times, we got to go get it,” Ollie said. “The balls are there, we got to go hit first. We have to do those things to win and I know I sound like a broken record, but that’s what we have to do.”
What has been a broken record is Brooklyn’s inability to solve the issues that have plagued them this entire season and some of those problems come down to desire. While the Knicks out-rebounded the Nets by just a small margin of 47-41, New York was able to grab 16 offensive rebounds and turn those into second-chance points, a significant amount of which came from behind the three-point line.
Not to mention that Brooklyn turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 19 points for the Knicks that proved instrumental to their winning cause as well. The Nets are not a big team, but some of the offensive rebounds came down to just the Knicks racing for those opportunities.
“We have to have competitive stamina and I talked to them about that today. How’s your stamina? Not just your wind playing basketball, just your competitive stamina. That has to be there every single minute for us to win,” Ollie said.
