The Nets looked worse Saturday night than they have since … the last time they played a top team.
There may be a correlation there.
The Nets lost 113-107 to the white-hot Suns at Barclays Center before a sellout crowd of 18,071, the biggest turnout since they moved to Brooklyn. It was the Nets’ latest failed test, as they came up short once again against the league’s elite.
“We’re a team that’s still forming, still trying to find an identity,” coach Steve Nash said. “This [Suns] team has a clear identity, a clear understanding of what they’re trying to do offensively and defensively — something we’re still in the very early stages of.
“We get away from our game when we go behind. Those are signs of a new team, a team trying to understand each other and find some clarity and identity.”
Nash’s admission sounded like an echo of the last time the Nets faced an elite team, when they got drilled by the Warriors on Nov. 16. They had won four straight since — until the Suns, winners of 16 straight, made them look lost and listless.
The Nets made 20 turnovers, including eight in a first quarter that ended with them trailing 34-20. The deficit reached 22 in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t think we had the same sort of level of hunger to start the game as we did in Boston,” Nash said. “The turnovers were obviously a big part of that.”
No Net was more culpable — either in looking lost or coughing the ball up — than James Harden. The Nets star — booed for the first time by the home crowd — was flummoxed by Mikal Bridge’s length and committed seven turnovers.
“Mikal Bridges did a really good job of just beating me up full court the entire game,” Harden said. “A little of it was just playing too fast and not making sure everyone’s in the right positions.”
Kevin Durant had 39 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Harden added 12 points (shooting just 4-for-15), 14 assists and 13 boards.
“It was a tough night for [Harden] — some turnover issues and didn’t get a lot of good looks,” Nash said. “But that’s a part of our growth, too, is trying to figure out ways for him to be effective even if he’s not getting to the rim.”
While Harden insisted his hamstring is fine, he admitted that he’s still struggling to find the right balance between scoring and facilitating with Kyrie Irving out.
“Honestly, I’m trying to figure all that out right now. I’m trying to figure out when to score, when to be a playmaker, when to run offense, when to do a little bit of everything. Just trying to figure it out,” Harden said. “It’s been a little difficult especially since — from whatever — but it’s been a little difficult. But I’m just trying to figure it out.”
Nash — who during his Hall of Fame playing career led Phoenix to winning streaks of 15 and 17 games during the 2006-07 season — watched the Suns cruise to the second-longest run in franchise history and turn his current team into a speed bump along the way. After Nash had harped on the need to get actions early and swing the ball second side, the Suns put on a clinic in both.
Devin Booker — with Durant starting on him — had 12 of his 30 points early to spot Phoenix to a 17-6 lead just 4 ¹/₂ minutes in.
DeAndre’ Bembry (18 points) was guarding the Suns’ Chris Paul instead of Booker, who cracked double-figures before Durant had even gotten on the board.
The Nets handed the Suns an 11-0 edge in first-quarter points off turnovers. They had 11 turnovers midway through the second quarter, and Paul’s pull-up 3-pointer left them in a 51-31 hole with 6:40 left in the half.
The Nets cut it to 51-46 on a Bembry steal and dunk late in the half but fell back behind, 97-72, with 10:35 to play on a 3-pointer by former Net Landry Shamet.
A 29-11 run pulled them within 108-101 on a Harden finger roll, but they got no closer.