Nets collapse down stretch in loss to Mavericks

DALLAS — The Nets came up a few fourth-quarter plays — and a second scorer — short against the Mavericks, falling 119-111 before 19,032 fans at American Airlines Center on Friday night. 

The Nets shot just 6-for-21 overall and 2-for-9 from deep in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 29-19 as their offense disappeared down the stretch. 

The Nets (6-18) sit sixth in the lottery odds, now a half-game behind Oklahoma City (via the Clippers’ pick), Sacramento and Indiana, all tied for third. 

Michael Porter Jr. had another big offensive night, pouring in a game-high 34 points on 12-for-20 shooting and 6-for-10 from 3-point range.

The tanking Nets’ record will surely keep him out of the All-Star Game, but he’s played at an All-Star level since Cam Thomas went down in early November. 

Friday marked a career-high fourth straight game that Porter has cracked 33 points, tying Kevin Durant and James Harden for the team record. Rookie Danny Wolf came off the bench with 17 points and seven rebounds, going 3-for-3 from deep. 

But it wasn’t enough. 

The Nets couldn’t stop Anthony Davis in the second half, and couldn’t stop Cooper Flagg at all. Davis had 20 of his 24 points after halftime, while Flagg didn’t look like a rookie with 22 points, eight assists and five boards. 

It was a rough night on the tanking trail. Washington was winning with 2:25 left, Charlotte up with 3:08 remaining and Indiana ahead with 4:22 to play. Every one of them ended up losing, keeping Brooklyn from making up ground. 

Trailing 65-59 after Davis found Max Christie for a 3-pointer with 28.7 seconds left in the first half, the Nets mounted a 19-8 run that spanned intermission. 

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Noah Clowney’s 3-pointer off a Terance Mann feed put Brooklyn ahead 70-68. And Porter capped the run from outside. 

His budding partnership with Nic Claxton (14 points, 10 boards) continued, with the center feeding him on a handoff for a 3-pointer and a 78-73 cushion with 7:49 left in the third. 

Brooklyn gave up six unanswered to give the lead back, but Clowney’s steal and layup with two second left in the third put them ahead 92-90 heading into the fourth. 

It was still 101-99 after Claxton’s free throws with 7:44 left. But four straight misses led to a quick 7-0 blitz by Dallas. 

Brandon Williams’ finger roll made it 106-99 Mavericks with 6:13 remaining and Brooklyn never led again. 

The Nets managed to get within a point when Wolf bullied inside for a layup that cut the deficit to 108-107 with 3:49 to play. But they came no closer, unable to buy a bucket when they needed it most.