Nets blow fourth-quarter lead to lowly Pelicans as losing streak hits five

The Pelicans are the worst team in the NBA. But the Nets were the worse team Wednesday.

Brooklyn blew a 12-point lead — and an eight-point fourth-quarter cushion — to fall 116-113 before a crowd of 16,201 at Smoothie King Center.

After playing well last month, the Nets (11-27) have struggled since the calendar flipped. Brooklyn has the longest losing skid in the league at five straight, and has now dropped eight of their past nine.

The Nets (11-27) sit fifth in the lottery standings. They were just a game behind fourth-place Washington pending the Wizards tilt against the Clippers later Wednesday night, and two games clear of idle sixth-place Charlotte.

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) blocks Michael Porter Jr.’s (17) shot during the first half of the Nets’ 116-113 road loss to the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Brooklyn led 110-107 after rookie Egor Dëmin’s long 3-pointer with 1:28 left. But they allowed seven unanswered points and never led again.

The Nets trailed by three in the final seconds and botched the last-ditch play. Michael Porter Jr. — who led the Nets with 20 points — missed a 34-footer.

Trey Murphy III had a game-high 34 points and Zion Williamson added 25. The Pelicans have signaled they plan to hold onto both.

New Orleans (10-33) had lost 11 of 12 and came in with the worst record in the league, but don’t even have the silver lining of having the best lottery odds. They owe their first-round pick to Atlanta after last year’s shocking draft-night trade when they moved up ten places to take Derik Queen.

The Nets held Queen off the scoreboard until 1:50 left in the third, and to four points on 0-for-4 shooting. But the Nets still lost.

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With the game knotted at 105-105, rookie Drake Powell got fouled and hit two of three at the charity stripe to put the Nets ahead by a deuce. Murphy tied it, but Dëmin untied it with a clutch go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:28 to play.

But Saddiq Bey evened it on a 3-pointer of his own with a minute left, then — after Dëmin defended Murphy into a missed 3-pointer — the Nets let Bey beat them for an offensive rebound and go-ahead putback with 21 seconds left in regulation.

The Nets got the exact shot they would’ve wanted, a clean Porter look. But he missed a corner 3-pointer, and the Nets never led.

Egor Dëmin (8) brings the ball up court against Trey Murphy III (25) during the first half of the Nets’ road loss to the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

A Drake Powell 3-pointer got them within one with 5 seconds left. And down three after two Bey foul shots, and no timeouts left, the Nets botched a final possession when they nearly threw the ball away to Karlo Matkovic and had to settle for a desperation 34-foot heave by Porter that had little chance.

After the Nets had cost themselves with slow starts in the past few games, this time they came out focused. Brooklyn raced out of the blocks to go ahead 16-6 on a Powell basket.

The lead reached a dozen when they doubled up New Orleans 24-12 after Dëmin’s touch pass to Nic Claxton with 5:44 left in the first quarter.

But it was knotted at 87-87 going into what turned out to be a dramatic fourth.

Day’Ron Sharpe rebounded a Bey miss, and dunked off a Terance Mann feed. Then after Queen missed a pair of shots in close, Mann stole the ball from him and drilled a 3-pointer to put Brooklyn up by five.

Following a Williamson turnover, Cam Thomas cleared out and got by Bey to the rim for a scoop and a 94-87 lead with 10:10 to play.

Danny Wolf hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the key to cap a 10-2 run and pad the lead back to 97-89. But the Nets couldn’t hold it.

Wolf fouled out and the Nets allowed a 16-4 run to give up the lead altogether.

Murphy’s 3-pointer put New Orleans ahead 103-101. And after Yves Missi outfought Claxton for an offensive rebound and putback, the Nets found themselves in a four-point hole.