Nets never recover from early Hornets surge in another lopsided home loss

C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News on Mar 31, 2026

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NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets blinked once Tuesday night and the Charlotte Hornets took the game. Charles Lee’s group ripped off a 13-0 run in the opening minutes at Barclays Center, and Brooklyn spent the rest of the night chasing in an 117-86 loss.

The Nets fell to 18-58 and trailed by as many as 35 points in a game that was over before it ever truly began. With six games left, Brooklyn remain in third place in the NBA draft lottery race.

The absences were the first thing working against Brooklyn, and they showed up in the way the game opened. The Nets played without Michael Porter Jr., Egor Dëmin, Day’Ron Sharpe, Danny Wolf and Terance Mann. Charlotte’s roster was healthy, and it looked like it from the jump.

That 13-0 Hornets run turned a 4-3 game into a 16-4 hole in a matter of minutes, with Brandon Miller going 2 for 2 from 3-point range and LaMelo Ball starting 2 for 5. Brooklyn didn’t have the offensive structure to absorb it, and defensively, the Nets couldn’t slow Charlotte down once the Hornets got comfortable.

The numbers were already ugly by the end of the first quarter. Brooklyn shot 35% from the field and scored just 18 points, nearly getting outscored by Miller alone. He poured in 16 points on 5-for-5 shooting while playing the entire period, and it was already a 17-point game entering the second.

The Nets did show some push in the middle of the game, even if they never truly threatened. Offense remained hard to find outside of a pair of six-point bursts from Nolan Traoré and Josh Minott, but Brooklyn at least tightened up defensively in the second quarter. The Hornets shot 34.6% in the period, the Nets shot 36.8%, and the turnovers were even with three apiece. Brooklyn won the quarter 27-23, but Charlotte still took a 13-point lead into halftime with Miller and Miles Bridges in double figures.

Then Charlotte stretched its legs and cruised to the finish.

The Hornets opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run to push the lead back to 18, and the separation only grew. By the time Nets coach Jordi Fernández was forced into a timeout at the 3:40 mark of the period, Charlotte had opened up its largest lead of the night at 24 points. From there, the Hornets’ advantage continued to swell with little Nets resistance, outside of a Minott flagrant foul early in the fourth quarter in a 27-point game.

Miller finished with 25 points to lead Charlotte. Ball added 14 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Brooklyn did have a 48-41 advantage in bench points, but the Hornets, still hunting for their spot in the play-in tournament, were better in just about every other statistical category that mattered.

Minott led Brooklyn with 14 points, Chaney Johnson added 11, and Traoré, Ziaire Williams and Drake Powell each scored 10 points apiece.

After two days off, the Nets will return to Barclays Center on Friday to face the Atlanta Hawks.

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