Nets remain winless as inspired late rally falls short in loss to Hawks

The Nets played their best defensive game of the season. But going from guarding for a quarter to guarding for two still wasn’t good enough for their first victory.

Brooklyn erased a double-digit deficit late and had a chance to tie Wednesday night before falling 117-112 to the Hawks before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center.

“We had a way better second half,” said coach Jordi Fernández. “You give yourself a chance, and we were very close to a tip-in or lay-in and still have a two-for-one and have a chance to win. So, didn’t go our way at the end, but those are positive steps.”

Struggling Nic Claxton had his best game of the season with 18 points, a dozen rebounds and his first block, but the center missed a pair of point-blank looks late. And in the end, the Nets stayed winless as they fell to 0-5.

“We were just more conscious about our energy throughout the game,” said Claxton. “We still ended up getting down double digits. That’s something we got to do a better job of because trying to come back, it just takes so much energy. You really just got to play a perfect game. So we’ve just got to keep chopping.”

The Nets trailed 113-103 with 4:12 left after a Nickeil Alexander-Walker 3-pointer before a final rally fell short. With Hawks star Trae Young having to leave the game with a knee injury, the Nets went to a switching defense and it almost helped them steal their first victory. Almost.