Kenny Atkinson lost his cool and the Nets lost the NBA’s longest winning streak.
Atkinson got ejected during the Nets’ 114-106 loss to the Pacers on Friday night at Barclays Center before a crowd of 13,302, many of whom cheered the Brooklyn coach as he was escorted off the court.
The game was not only testy, but it was also a test for the Nets, facing a Pacers team that has owned them. After blowing a three-point lead with less than three minutes left and having their coach snap, the Nets (15-19) came up just short in this measuring-stick game as their seven-game winning streak ended.
“Not there yet,” Atkinson said. “That’s a proven playoff team, a tough group of guys. I really don’t think we deserve this one. We fought, and we were in it and we had a chance, but they were the better team. It’s just clear. Good measuring stick. That’s the type of tenacity and physicality we need to get to another level.”
Rookie Rodions Kurucs scored a career and team-high 24 points, including a 3-pointer off a feed from Spencer Dinwiddie (15 points, nine assists) that put the Nets ahead 103-100 with 3:08 left in the game. But it was a lead they couldn’t hold, as they coughed up an 11-1 run, during which Atkinson was tossed from the game.
“We’ve just got to be mentally stronger, and I’ve got to be mentally stronger, fighting through those situations,” said Atkinson, who praised the refs.
“Just frustration on my part. I have to coach myself. I don’t love that scene out there. That’s not what I’m there for. I’m not here to make a show. So I apologize for that. That’s not who I am. But it happens in this league sometimes with the emotion and intensity of the game.”
This was one plenty intense.
Victor Oladipo (26 points) had a monster dunk to give Indiana the lead for good at 106-104 before the Nets imploded down the stretch.
Bojan Bogdanovic hit a 3-pointer and Dinwiddie drove and was blocked by Myles Turner. Three seconds later, Kurucs was called for a foul on Darren Collison. Atkinson erupted and had to be restrained by his coaches. He was hit with two technicals and got tossed.
Bogdanovic converted the technical free throw to make it 110-104, and Collision made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 111-104 with 1:09 left. The rest was academic.
“I think it was justified. You want your coach standing up for your players,” Jared Dudley said. “If he’s out there screaming, you know there’s a reason why. You want your coach to have your back, and he took those two techs. Now you know you have someone in your corner fighting for you.”
It was the ninth straight time the Nets have fallen to the Pacers (21-12), matching their futility against the Celtics for their longest skid against any team.
The Nets took a 20-point beating at Indiana earlier this season and had been outscored by an average of 11.5 points in their losing streak to the Pacers. Friday looked to be just more of the same early before it turned into a heartbreaker late.
Brooklyn trailed 35-20 after Doug McDermott’s reverse layup made it 35-20. The Nets’ ballhandlers couldn’t handle the Pacers’ blitzing defense, and they couldn’t defend until Atkinson’s switch to zone got them back in it.
Trailing 70-63, the Nets mounted a 17-6 run. DeMarre Carroll’s basket put them ahead 80-76. And even after they fell back behind, Joe Harris drilled a huge 3-pointer to put the Nets back up 99-98 with 4:33 to play.Kurucs’ 3-pointer padded it to 103-100, but that’s when the collapse happened.
“Although it did come down to the end, we dug ourselves a hole early on and we were just climbing back over the course of the game,” said Harris, who had 13 points. “You can’t give up 37 in the first, and you just can’t dig yourself a hole early like that.”