Nets blow another double-digit lead in loss to Jazz, bringing losing streak to four

As Yogi Berra famously said, it was déjà vu all over again for the Nets, who blew a double-digit lead for the second time in as many games in a 101-91 loss to the Jazz Wednesday night at Barclays Center. It marked a season-high four-game losing streak for the Nets.

The Nets built an 11-point lead near the end of the third period but saw the Jazz respond with a 15-4 run, including eight points from Royce O’Neale, whose jumper from right of the key tied the game at 82 with 7:06 left to play. Watching double-digit leads slip away in the fourth period has become an all-too-familiar scenario for the Nets, who blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead on Sunday against the 76ers.

The Jazz put a nose in front when Donovan Mitchell buried a 19-foot jumper to make it 86-84 with 5:42 left. The Nets briefly regained the lead and then Mitchell and Rudy Gobert took over down the stretch. Mitchell scored 10 points in a 15-4 Jazz run to end the game and Gobert had the other five in that span.

“I didn’t think we had open shots,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said of a fourth quarter his team lost, 31-13. “I thought they locked us up. They played great defense. It was like Philly where I felt we had a ton of open looks. I thought they were superb defensively, and we weren’t at our best offensively.”

Spencer Dinwiddie led five Nets (8-14) in double figures with 18 points in just 22 minutes, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 14 points and 11 rebounds, Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and D’Angelo Russell had 14 points but struggled through a 6-for-25 shooting night as the Nets converted only 34.9 percent of their shots and had just 11 assists.

“The ball stuck way too much,” Atkinson said of the Nets’ offense. “We did not move it when we needed to. That’s got to be a record for us — 11 assists.”

Mitchell topped the Jazz (10-12) with 29 points, and center Gobert was a force in the paint with 23 points and 16 rebounds. The Jazz dominated points in the paint, 52-32, and they forced 20 Nets turnovers they turned into 22 points.

The Nets seemed to be making progress coming off their last road trip and recovering from a long-term injury to Caris LeVert. But they have taken a step back in three straight home losses, including the 20-point third-quarter lead they blew Sunday against the 76ers.

“We were up two games in the fourth quarter, so we just want to learn how to finally close a game out in the fourth quarter,” Allen said. “We’ve improved. We just haven’t improved enough to finish the fourth quarter.”

Neither team led by more than four points during a sluggish first half, but the Nets finally gained some traction in the third period. Dinwiddie scored every Nets point in an 11-4 surge that gave them their biggest lead of the game at 78-67 just before the end of the third quarter. But that was before it turned into the Donovan Mitchell show.

“We tried our best defender, Rondae on him,” Atkinson said. “After he scored two or three in a row, we switched up. Credit to him. He made the plays.”

Hollis-Jefferson felt the Nets made Mitchell work for what he got at the end, but he said, “He’s talented — knows how to get to his spots, knows how to make shots. On a screen and roll, he came around a screen and hit a three with my hand in his face.”

Now the Nets know they must dig deeper for late-game solutions. “It’s definitely tough mentally,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “We think about it.”

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.