The only carryover the Nets had from Tuesday night’s loss in Denver was making sure they didn’t play that way a second straight night.

They took care of the ball. They didn’t allow all those layups and dunks and actually committed some fouls to avoid easy scores inside against Portland.

More purposeful performances like this and the Nets may actually win a game. But for now they’re still searching for that first victory, still keeping alive the possibility of breaking the NBA’s record for most losses to start a season.

Their 15th straight defeat, 93-83 to Portland, should at least give the Nets a little hope. If the Nets play this way Friday at Sacramento, and get a little more from Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, the streak could end there.

If not, the Nets’ next game is at the Lakers. So the record –- 0-17 -- could be tied that night and Lawrence Frank could be coaching his final game.

"You walk into that locker room, it’s like a morgue because guys are laying it all out there," Frank said after the game. "It’s disheartening to lose. But if we put efforts like this together we’ll break through. Those words might ring hollow."

The Nets have to turn their attention to the Sacramento game now that this one is over.  It's the most winnable game on the trip. They have to build on what they did in Portland -- at least for most of the game -- and they could snap their skid.

The Blazers are a good team, at 12-5, and a really good team at home, where they won for the sixth consecutive time. They lead the NBA in field-goal defense and points allowed. The Nets are the lowest-scoring team and have the lowest shooting percentage.

Good defense always beats bad offense.

It was tied 54-54 midway through the third quarter before a patented Nets third-period disappearing act. The Nets held Portland to 13 points, but scored only 12, including just two points in the final 6:12 of the third.

But the Nets were down just five early in the fourth and in five minutes it went to 15. There were guys getting out late to shooters, giving up defensive rebounds and one Rudy Fernandez prayer from deep that contributed to things getting away from the Nets.

But they played throughout, something they didn’t in Denver. So that’s progress. When you’re 0-for-the-season you have to look for any positives you can.

"I thought our guys battled extremely hard," Frank said. "There’s no consolation prize, but this is a lot more indicative [of how we’ve played], regardless of the result."

Still, you can’t overlook that because the Nets tried to go back to being a no-paint team that they gave up 53 percent shooting from three. But on most nights, you take Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, who combined to shoot 9-for-23 and score 25 points, and you have a good chance of winning.

Brook Lopez bounced back from foul-plagued night in Denver by scoring a career-high 32 points to go with 14 rebounds. He was impressive against Greg Oden and outplayed the former No. 1 pick. Oden had 18 and 8.

Chris Douglas-Roberts also rebounded from Denver with 18 points. But the eight other Nets who played combined for 33 points.

Harris and Lee were invisible for the most part. They combined to shoot 2-for-7 and score six points and Lee didn’t crack the scoring column. They’re still working their way back from injuries, but the Nets aren’t going to win many games if Harris and Lee aren’t making things happen on both ends, getting steals and getting to the basket.

Maybe today’s off day will do the two guards good, do all the Nets good. They have two games left on this trip and need two losses to match the dubious mark that the 1988-89 Heat and 1998-99 Clippers share. The Nets can avoid that in Sacramento. If not, they'll come him two records they don't want.

Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)