SALT LAKE CITY — Getting blown out by the Clippers was one thing. Getting blown out by the Jazz is another.
The Nets fell out of a playoff spot for the first time since the opening days of the season after being routed 108-73 at the hands of the Jazz at Energy Solutions Arena on Saturday night. They fell a half-game behind the Hornets for the eighth and final spot in the dreadful Eastern Conference.
And with a brutal stretch in their schedule looming — the next five games come against the Trail Blazers, Hawks, Clippers and the Raptors twice — it’s fair to wonder if they’ll get back into playoff position again anytime soon.
“I’m just focusing on the here and now,” Jarrett Jack said. “We’re not in a position to be looking ahead past anybody. Just focusing on the task Monday, which is Portland, and getting prepared and ready for them.”
The Nets’ performance certainly didn’t inspire much optimism things will get better anytime soon. After staying competitive in the first quarter, the Nets were outscored 33-16 in the second quarter to go into halftime trailing 58-37.
Utah shot 53.2 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from 3-point range, easily outpacing the Nets (38.7 and 33.3) in both categories. The Jazz (16-28) also ended the game with a 27-7 advantage in fast-break points — just the latest example of how little quickness and athleticism the Nets (18-26) have.
Both teams spent the second half basically playing to a draw, with the Nets never making any kind of serious push and sitting their starters for the entire fourth quarter.
“It’s a rough stretch,” Mason Plumlee said, “but you got to fight through it and come out the other side.”
The Nets lost Mirza Teletovic for the season Friday following his diagnosis of bilateral pulmonary embolus after a CT scan revealed multiple blood clots in his lungs, so coach Lionel Hollins said he would give rookie Cory Jefferson a chance to take Teletovic’s minutes.
That lasted for exactly three shaky minutes in the first quarter, before Hollins took Jefferson out until garbage time.
In a similar vein, with Deron Williams (fractured rib cartilage) missing his ninth straight game and 10th of the last 11 for the Nets, Hollins turned to Darius Morris to start the second quarter after playing Jack for the entire first.
As with Jefferson, that experiment also was a short one. The Jazz’s lead quickly ballooned to nine points in the first three-plus minutes of the second quarter, leading Hollins to yank Morris and not bring him back in until the fourth.
“It’s tough, but the things that are allowing other teams to be successful against us are things we still should be working on or trying to figure out,” Jack said. “Schemes and things we go over every day that people should know, one through 15. … We can’t have those lapses where we don’t score or don’t defend.”
Brooklyn got little production from anywhere, as Jack (16 points, four rebounds, eight assists) and Plumlee (11 points and six rebounds) were the only Nets to finish in double-figures. Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez finished with six points each on a combined 5-for-16 shooting.
“I have no idea,” Johnson said when asked what’s ailing the Nets. “What we’ve got to do is just keep playing.”
The Nets will keep playing for at least the final 38 games of the regular season. But given the state of things right now, it’s hard to see when the losses will stop coming.