This streak started innocently, unlike some of the Nets’ streaks this season, and it's still going.
The start of the Nets’ record-setting losing streak to open the season was like a hammer crashing as they blew a 19-point third-quarter cushion and lost at the buzzer in Minnesota.
This latest streak started after another hammer came down when the Nets wasted a double-digit second-half lead despite out-rebounding the board-effective Bucks. That was the last time the Nets won the battle of the glass.
One game later, the Nets played the Knicks in Devin Harris’ return from a groin injury. The winning was supposed to start. Instead, the Nets lost again and New York held a slight edge in rebounds.
It was loss No. 13 in a row and also the first of now 21 consecutive games in which the Nets have been out-rebounded. According to the YES Network, it’s the longest such streak since the 1986-87 season.
This could be one of those coming full-circle moments.
The Nets play host to the Bucks tomorrow night, one of the better rebounding teams in the league. The Nets rank 28th in rebounds, 28th in opponents’ rebounds, and the 5.78 differential between the two is the second-worst in the NBA.
Maybe the Nets end that streak tomorrow night and maybe they end their homestand on a winning note. They would rather accomplish the latter, and could do it without the improved board work, but it certainly would help.
“I think our big guys are getting their rebounding numbers,” head coach Kiki Vandeweghe said today. “It’s everybody. It’s all five guys, and we talked about it today. That is an area where we need significant improvement and we have to do it every single time –- it’s not just one guy.
“One guy leaks out and then another guy leaks out. It has to be a consistent effort. In areas, we’re getting a very good effort. There, we’re getting a good effort, but it’s got to be consistent and more consistent.”
Take this 1-5 homestand thus far, which is about one-third of the sample. The Nets could have won anywhere from one to three more games if they had just put a body on someone and grabbed a few extra rebounds.
They lost to Minnesota by four on Dec. 23 on a night when the Wolves held a 46-37 edge on the glass and a 20-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Three nights later, the Nets were tied late in the game against Houston, a game they would have won with a few more rebounds. The smaller, harder working Rockets won the rebound battle 51-39, including 16-6 on the offensive boards, and got the game by five.
There are two wins right there. A third, although it would have been tough regardless, could have come Saturday against the Cavaliers. LeBron James wouldn’t let Cleveland lose to the Nets, though.
It was 52-38 Cleveland on the boards, and 23-14 in second-chance points, in a game the Cavs won by eight.
Brook Lopez is getting his for the most part. He’s averaged 10 on the homestand, but he needs help from Yi Jianlian and some of the smalls also.
“Personally, I think it’s one, getting a body on everybody, but then it’s pursuing the ball,” Vandeweghe said. “To me, it’s a matter of desire, and you’ve got to want the ball and realize that rebounding is part of defense. The only way you get the ball back is either you get a rebound, you get a steal or the other team scores – and the last one’s not so good. So you’ve got to get rebounds.”
It would help the Nets end this homestand with a win.
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Jarvis Hayes is expected to return tomorrow after missing the prior 32 games with a hamstring injury.
Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
