Nets want to finish games better as the season comes to a close

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NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets have played 17 games since coming back from the NBA All-Star Break, but they have won just three of those games for a variety of reasons. The biggest reason that Brooklyn has been losing so many games was due to their tendency to blow leads, something that head coach Jordi Fernandez wants to fix before the season ends.

"It comes down to a lot of different things, from getting one more stop to not fouling a three-point shooter the other day to getting one less turnover to execute one more play to have a good time for a two-for-one," Fernandez said prior to Monday's game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Nets are coming off a 3-game road trip that saw them lose to a Boston Celtics team without Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown along with losing to the Indiana Pacers twice.

"There's so many things you can do," Fernandez continued. "When we lost the game in overtime (on Thursday), it came down to one possession, right? The game went to overtime and we had control the whole game. A lot of times, I think players and all of us think about that last possession, you know? Unfortunately, Keon (Johnson) fouling a shooter that is kicking his leg, they they call a foul on us, is that the possession? We could have been one possession better in the first quarter, in the second or third."

As Fernandez alluded to, the Nets had a chance to beat the Pacers on Thursday as they had as much as an 11-point lead in the 105-99 overtime loss thanks to how well they played in the first half. However, what happened in the second half and overtime showed that Brooklyn still has some growing to do as a team in terms on winning games that they build an advantage in as opposed to losing those games due to a lack of focus.

"We always think about the last possession, and a lot of times I think winning teams, they take care of those possessions throughout games," Fernandez explained. "We're going to build towards that, towards having the mentality that I don't have (to feel) the pressure to go out there and have to figure it out when the game is tied. Now, if it is, we'll go ahead and do it, but if not, we'll be more cautious on playing throughout 48 minutes."

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets want to finish games better as the season comes to a close

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