Nets’ upset bid against unbeaten Cavaliers falls short

CLEVELAND — The Nets played a back-to-back at the NBA’s reigning champions and league’s only unbeaten. They led both late, before falling agonizingly short.

A night after an overtime loss in Boston, the Nets suffered another tough finish, and a heartbreaking 105-100 defeat before a frenzied crowd at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

The Nets (4-6) fell to the Cavaliers in their first matchup against Kenny Atkinson as a head coach since they fired him in 2020.

He got the last laugh, as Cleveland came from behind to improve to a league-leading 11-0.

The Nets were playing as daunting a back-to-back as there is, leading almost wire-to-wire in Boston before falling in overtime to the defending champion Celtics. A night later, it was the white-hot Cavs.

The Nets led by seven with 4:09 left before allowing 10 unanswered points and the lead. Dennis Schroder’s free throws got them back within 99-98 with 1:39 to play, but Darius Garland’s jumper put them back in a three-point hole.

Cam Thomas (22 points) hit a tough baseline fade to pull the Nets within 101-100, but Ty Jerome made the margin three again.

When Schroder (22 points) missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 27.8 in regulation, this time there would be no overtime.

Cam Johnson led the Nets with 23 points. His sixth straight turnover-free, 30-minute game with multiple 3s tied an NBA record.

Evan Mobley had 23 points for the Cavs, while Donovan Mitchell added 22.

“Right now, I think they’re playing like the best team in the NBA,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said before the game. “It’s pretty obvious their offense has been amazing. If the season would be over right now, they’d be the best offense in the history of the NBA, which tells you how well they’re playing and defensively have size, switchability, rim protection. So it’s going to be a good challenge for us.

“Our group has built that chemistry. And obviously, nobody likes to [lose], but especially our group, where we feel like we could have been better, and now we’re moving on to the next game. That’s the beauty of the NBA. If you really care, if you’re really competitive and you were that close, you have the next opportunity, the next day with a back to back. So coming here and being ready to fight. We’ve done it so far, but that doesn’t mean anything. We got to do it again.”

Thomas saw the Cavaliers run two defenders at him, trying to be physical and knock him out of his game. It worked for much of the first half, when he was a quiet 1 of 6 with two turnovers, but he helped lead a charge back into the game.

With the Nets down by six, they absorbed a 9-0 Cleveland blitz to see the deficit suddenly swell to 15.

The Nets trailed, 52-37, with 6:30 left in the half after former Net Caris LeVert found Darius Garland for an open 3-pointer.

That’s when they put together an extended 33-5 run into the second half to change the game. They strung together 15 unanswered points coming out of the locker room, capped by Schroder finding Thomas for a 3.

It gave the Nets a 70-57 lead with 7:43 left in the third quarter, and they spent the rest of the game trying to protect it.

The Nets saw the lead shrivel late in the fourth, and a Nic Claxton turnover led to a LeVert leak out dunk that pulled Cleveland within 91-89 with 5:31 to play.

When Schroder missed a 3-pointer, the Cavs had a chance to tie or take the lead.

But Dorian Finney-Smith soared in for the offensive rebound, and his putback stemmed the bleeding.

Then Johnson drilled a clutch 3-pointer to pad the Nets’ cushion back to 96-89 with 4:24 in regulation.

A Schroder turnover led to Garland’s jumper, slicing the lead back to 96-95.

And his free throws erased the lead altogether, putting Cleveland ahead 97-96 with 2:31 remaining.

Thomas lost the ball out of bounds, and Garland found Mobley for a dunk and 99-96 lead. The Nets never recovered.