The Nets lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime on Monday, 122-115, their third straight loss and fourth in the last five games.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson was less than enthused with his team's effort in the loss.
"Just an unacceptable performanace by us," Atkinson said. "We were lucky to get to overtime, to be honest. Even at halftime, I thought that. We're just not playing at a high level. We're not playing up to Nets standards and it's hard to figure out why."
The Nets actually led by one at halftime, extended the lead to six at the end of the third quarter, and got it to nine less than three minutes into the fourth, but Minneosta battled back to force overtime, and outscored the Nets 19-12 in the extra frame.
"I just think generally we're not playing well," Atkinson said. "When the lead happens or when it doesn't, really doesn't matter. I think they deserved the win. They had guys come in and contribute and we were lucky to even take it to overtime."
"We know that we need to come out with more energy," center Jarrett Allen said. "We know there's a lot of things that we can do but for whatever reason we're just not playing like we used to."
The Nets have dropped to 16-16, and are currently positioned as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.
"It happens in the NBA," Atkinson said. "These are the times where you really reflect on who you want to be as a team. But right now, we've had slippage. We're not where we want to be and there's a lot of room for improvement. "