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Nets Show Heart in Tough Loss to Trail Blazers

(PORTLAND) –The Brooklyn Nets started off their circus road trip in disappointing fashion, dropping a 112-104 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.

C.J. McCollum had 34 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Blazers, who have won six-straight games and 11 of their past 12. All-Star snub Damian Lillard also finished with 34 points, including 14-14 from the free throw line.  He has scored 30-plus in five straight games.

Brook Lopez had a monster game for the Nets (15-42), finishing with a season-high 36 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high four steals.

This could’ve very well been a game the Nets could’ve mailed in, as Portland was all over them right from the jump.  They were down by as many as 19 points before storming back to take the lead in the fourth quarter.  Lopez played like a man possessed during the run, giving Brooklyn an 89-88 lead with 9:21 remaining.

The game was tied at 101 with less than two minutes to play.  Lillard and McCollum hit back-to-back 3-pointers in crunch time to put Portland up 107-101 and the Nets never recovered.  Lillard sank four foul shots in the final 26.4 seconds to help put Brooklyn away.  They have now lost three of their last four contests.

Notes: Lopez tallied his fifth 30 point game of the season and second in his last three games.

Rookie forward Chris McCullough dressed for the game but did not play.  Former Net Mason Plumlee finished with 13 rebounds against his old team.

Joe Johnson is now just three points away from scoring 19,000 in his career.  He will be just the 52nd player in NBA history to accomplish the feat.  Only nine other active players have reached that milestone.

The Nets hit 42 losses with this latest setback, which guarantees them a losing record for the entire season.

Brooklyn’s season-long road trip continues on Thursday night against the Phoenix Suns.

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Jason Goldstein is a co host of the Baseline Jumper NBA podcast, recording every Tuesday night along Ben McDonald. Jason has also spent time as the Basketball Editor at DoubleGSports.com while also handling the Brooklyn Nets Lead Writer duties since October 2015.
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