The Nets let Portland hit first and never got off the deck, blown out at home 121-102 before a sellout crowd of 18,018 at Barclays Center.
It marked a third straight loss, after a hot stretch that had seen them win seven of nine.
“I’m the first one that I have to be better. I have to help them better,” said Jordi Fernández. “It’s not the first time we don’t show up from the beginning, then we wake up a little, and it’s not good enough. This is not who we want to be. We’re building on our identity. Like I’ve said, winning starts now, and this is not the way.”
Playing without D’Angelo Russell, the Nets tied a season high by committing 22 turnovers.
That let Portland get into early offense, and the Nets allowed a staggering .577 shooting, their second-worst defensive performance of the season.
“Lack of readiness, no setups, poor spacing,” Fernández said. “We have guys that are more than capable to bring the ball, space the floor, play with pace. … This is not the shot chart we want, 22 turnovers, 29 3s. It’s poor. I have to be better because it’s not good enough.”
The Nets ended the night 2 ½ games behind Chicago for the final play-in spot in the East.
They’re seventh in the lottery odds, a half-game below No. 6 Philadelphia and three below No. 5 Toronto.
The Nets led just briefly, before conceding a 13-5 run to fall behind 16-11 less than midway through the first quarter.
Then Portland’s Shaedon Sharpe (25 points) hit a 3-pointer to cap a 15-6 blitz that left the Nets down 44-31 with 7:09 left in the half.
The Nets never got closer than nine the rest of the night, and trailed by as much as 26 in the fourth quarter.
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Killian Hayes, Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas — who played for the first time since Jan. 2 — all shared team-high honors with 16 points.
“They just came out aggressive,” Thomas said. “They just punched first. They punched first and we were trying to punch back the whole game.”
The Nets play Saturday in Detroit. Thomas said it was undecided if he will play the tail end of the back-to-back.
Ziaire Williams logged just 10 ½ minutes. Fernández said the forward was healthy.
Asked if he was told why his minutes got cut, Williams replied “Nah. He didn’t tell me nothing.”
Williams had averaged 29.2 minutes over his last 11 games. Fernández has encouraged him to shoot. Asked if a lack of 3-point volume Friday or related mentality led to his minutes being cut, Williams said: “Y’all know better than me, man. I got no idea.”
Hayes’ 10-day contract expires after Saturday’s game against his former team.
“We’ll talk about it [Saturday],” Hayes said of getting a second 10-day. “But I’m excited. I’m excited for this opportunity.”
