In another late-game fight, the more well-rested Nets came up short Thursday night.
But, if visiting Minnesota’s energy was down — playing on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Wizards on Wednesday — it didn’t really show. Nor did it affect the result as the Timberwolves’ size and league-leading defense couldn’t be denied.
They took a 96-94 victory at Barclays Center thanks, in part, to a late missed free throw by Mikal Bridges.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored a game-high 27 points for the Timberwolves to go with 10 rebounds, while Anthony Edwards netted 24.
Cam Thomas led the way for the Nets with 25 points while Bridges added 21.
Trailing by two points, Bridges had the opportunity to send the Nets into overtime from the foul line with 2.4 seconds left in regulation.
He missed the first shot and the Nets failed to get the rebound of the purposely missed second.
“Just somehow got to the line. They played great defense, and got to the line and then missed that first one,” Bridges said. “Thought it was good, back rim, surprised the ball came back to me. So, just try to miss the second one. Get the ball, try to score real quick, but yeah, it’s tough after you miss the first one.”
Head coach Jacque Vaughn’s message to Bridges despite the game-deciding miss, was his typical, “It’s never one play.”
“Throughout the course of the game we made adjustments,” Vaughn said. “Turned those dudes over in the second half, especially in the fourth [quarter]. We held this team to 36 points in the second half. … I give [the Nets] a tremendous amount of credit for fighting, being resilient and we’re going to do it again. We get a chance to do it again in another 48 hours.”
The third quarter saw some magic from the Nets, getting the better of the slightly rundown Timberwolves, outscoring them, 26-21, to get to within four points after a brutal second quarter in which Minnesota outscored the home team, 36-17.
Timberwolves. Getty Images
The fourth quarter was another late-game test for the Nets as they inched within four points with four minutes to go.
Bridges’ aggressiveness kept the Nets in it, driving in for the and-one as he drew a foul on Edwards — who was held scoreless in the final quarter — with 4:24 left.
On the following possession, Towns missed a routine shot in the paint and Bridges went down the court and pulled the Nets within two points on a midrange shot.
After back-and-forth baskets from Towns and Bridges made it a 94-92 game with less than two minutes remaining, the Nets’ defense forced Edwards to shoot an airball.
Thomas was then able to draw a foul on Rudy Gobert and make two foul shots to tie the game at 94-all with 1:11 to go.
Gobert answered with an alley-oop dunk on a lob from Towns, giving the Timberwolves a two-point lead, 96-94, with under a minute to go.
After a timeout by Brooklyn with 25.3 seconds to go, the Nets looked to get Bridges the ball for a possible 3-point game-winner, but he was unable to find his shot despite a screen from Nic Claxton.
Bridges instead was forced to pass it to Thomas, whose subsequent pass was tipped out of bounds — giving the Nets the ball with 7.4 seconds remaining.
A “Let’s go Nets” chant roared throughout Barclays Center as Bridges got the ball again and was again unable to get off a shot, but drew a foul.
With the Nets down two, Bridges missed the first free throw and then intentionally missed his second attempt. Minnesota grabbed the seal-the-deal rebound with 2.4 seconds left.
The loss was the Nets’ 12th loss in their past 14 games — and their fifth late-game defeat in their last six.
Despite the loss, the Nets felt like there were many positives to take from the game, seeing better execution than they had in their previous few games.
“I just think … you reflect back on the game, that’s why I love the game,” Vaughn said. “The ups and downs, the ebbs and flows of the game, and I go away giving our guys a tremendous amount of credit.
“This is the number two team in the West. Number one defense in the league. For us to show the grit and resolve to be in the game again at the end, make some adjustments at halftime and really stick together and fight and try to get it a [win]. Unbelievable effort by a lot of guys tonight.”
“Execution,” Thomas said in regard to what he believed the game came down to. “Getting stops at the end. It was really crucial. Rudy just had the alley-oop dunk and then we came down. I think we executed well. We got a foul at the end, we just missed a free throw.”
The Nets started out strong, and were up 31-24 after the first quarter.
Minnesota turned the tables in the second quarter, however, and led, 60-48, at halftime.
“Felt like we executed really well,” Thomas said. “We got better from the past few games where we’ve been blowing leads so it’s a good step in the right direction.”
