Nets Head Coach Speaks After Worst Loss in Franchise History

Little went right for the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, as they suffered their worst loss in franchise history at the hands of the middling LA Clippers.

Brooklyn shot just 30% overall, turned the ball over 20 times, and allowed LA to score 126 points on 54% shooting in suffering the 59-point defeat. The defeat ousted a previous franchise-worst 52-point loss to the Rockets in the 1978-79. Standouts like Cameron Johnson and D'Angelo Russell were out due to injury, but the team was still expected to put up more of a fight.

The result was especially puzzling following the team's first win in six tries over Portland, where it scored 132 points in total, with Johnson leading the charge. The back-to-back seemed to have played more of a factor than many assumed it would.

Just two Nets found double-digits scoring on the night in Jalen Wilson with 16, and Day’Ron Sharpe with 12. The entire Clipper starting five finished with double figures, as did Amir Coffey off the bench.

Suffice it to say, it wasn’t the Nets’ night on nearly every front.

After the game, first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez spoke with the media, and he certainly didn’t mince words.

"When you see a loss like this, a lot of things went wrong,” Fernandez said. “The energy and competitive spirit was not there, plain and simple. But 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, and they've competed the whole time. So all I can do is support them, obviously own this myself as well and show up the next day and try to be better."

In a near-60-point loss, little can be attributed to the scheme, rotations and more coaching decisions. Fernandez still shouldered the blame, but it was largely energy that kept the Nets from competing.

“It’s one of those days that, you know, you don’t do anything right,” the head coach said. “You don’t have that right energy and togetherness, but you try, and you just need a little bit more focus, and all these things — I am proud of this group of guys, and I know they’ll show up and work the next day.”