ATLANTA –- The Nets opened their three-game road trip here, but there really was no evidence that they showed up in Atlanta.

They trailed by double-figures for the final 42:32 in a 119-89 shellacking against the Hawks.

With the game over in the first period, the entertainment came from watching the “Kiss Cam” attraction where they scour the arena and get fans to smooch on the jumbo screen, and a feature about what the Hawks bought when they first started making NBA money.

Al Horford talked about the houses he bought, other players talked about their tricked out rides and former Net Jason Collins said he bought a bed. And then they had Collins’ likeness jumping on a bed.

Good stuff above the floor, but everything on the court was tough to watch from a Nets’ perspective. Just when you think it can’t get any worse it does.

The Nets coach, Kiki Vandeweghe, and lone All-Star, Devin Harris, talked before the game about the team coming back from Tuesday’s awful loss to the Bucks. Yet, they played an even more miserable game. The Hawks are a better team, but that means the Nets have to lift their level of play, focus, intensity.

You would think they would, but 11 straight misses to start the game led to a 17-3 deficit and this game was over. So much for showing fight and resilience and answering the bell after a bad loss. Instead, the Nets compounded situation.

“I think we came out initially and played hard,” Vandeweghe said. “I understand it's demoralizing to a point when you miss a lot of easy shots, especially layups which we did. But we've got to learn to overcome that.

“This is a very difficult time for us right now. We're sort of stuck in mud and you've got to slug it out. Just keep going. You can't stop.”

Sometimes I think I’m watching a different game because the Nets didn’t play that hard. Good things happen when you play hard. You can make up for misses if you’re playing hard on the other end.

But Vandeweghe doesn’t like to denigrate the players. He believes in positive reinforcement. Still, sometimes you have to say this is unacceptable or use a similar word that sports writers love.

But Vandeweghe’s right that the Nets have to keep going, they can’t stop. There’s still 47 games remaining. If they stop now, they could lose all 47 the way this team plays sometimes.

The Nets can’t stop, but something has to change. It seems like the Nets as a whole and individually are regressing.

For the first few months of the season only Brook Lopez and Chris Douglas-Roberts seemed to be making the most of their opportunities. Lately, Yi Jianlian’s numbers have stood out, but everyone else’s has gone down.

Vandeweghe and his staff have to find a way to get consistent play from everyone, get everyone involved and motivate the team to play hard on both ends. The losses are wearing on everyone. Players are more than frustrated.

They play strong games against the Knicks and the Cavaliers and have back-to-back pathetic games against the Bucks and the Hawks. At least in Atlanta, there were some fun things to watch above the court, although the Nets probably didn’t enjoy it.

There really was no evidence they were here anyway.

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