Shorthanded Nets scorched by Suns

Dillon Brooks lit the Nets up for 27 points Monday as Phoenix handed Brooklyn its 10th loss in 12 games at Barclays Center. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Rookie Egor Dёmin, reserve center Day’Ron Sharpe and instant-offense provider Cam Thomas couldn’t suit up for the Nets Monday night in Downtown Brooklyn.

Dillon Brooks and Devin Booker took full advantage of the situation, combining for 51 points to pace the Phoenix Suns to a 126-117 victory over the shorthanded Nets in front of 17,344 paying customers on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.

Winners of five of their last seven contests, the Suns (26-17) rolled into Barclays Center knowing that Dёmin, the eighth overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, would be sidelined as Brooklyn continues to sit him in back-to-backs for load management issues.

The fast-emerging 6-foot-8 Russian sharp-shooter has been playing through a plantar fasciitis injury that cost him time in the preseason.

Sharpe was unavailable due to an undisclosed illness and Thomas is also being careful with a left hamstring strain that cost him seven weeks of action earlier this season.

The Phoenix law firm of Brooks and Booker were only too happy to make sure Brooklyn (12-29) suffered its second straight loss and 10th in 12 contests since the Nets put together a solid 7-4 mark in December.

“Once again, the game was called, like, a rugby game, and it is what it is,” Brooklyn second-year coach Jordi Fernández lamented one night after watching his team slog through a 124-102 thumping in Chicago.

“We can not control that. So we gotta keep fighting,” he added.

Phoenix’s Devin Booker and Michael Porter Jr. fight for a loose ball during the Nets’ 126-117 loss in Downtown Brooklyn on Monday. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

The free-throw disparity, 23-21 in favor of the Suns, wasn’t the issue, however, as the Nets allowed Phoenix to shoot 51% from beyond the arc, including a combined 10-for-19 effort from Brooks and Grayson Allen.

Brooks finished with a game-high 27 points, Booker added 24 and Collin Gillespie finished with 22 as the Suns burst out to a 40-26 lead after 12 minutes and held off a couple of Brooklyn rallies.

“Proud of the group, I think everybody had good intentions, and at some point, once we matched that level of physicality, we started to come back,” said Fernández.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 23 points to lead seven double-digit scorers for Brooklyn, which will play its third game in four nights Wednesday at Madison Square Garden vs. the East River rival Knicks, a team they haven’t beaten since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were in Brooklyn.

Noah Clowney had 16 points, Ziaire Williams helped pick up the slack for Sharpe off the bench with 15, Nic Claxton added 12, rookie Drake Powell finished with 11 and Terance Mann and 19-year-old Nolan Traoré chipped in 10 apiece.

Mann drew praise from Fernández for his ability to protect the ball and dish it out to his teammates after amassing a season-high eight assists while taking Dёmin’s spot in the starting five.

“You see the eight assists-one turnover, that’s elite,” noted Fernández.  “We trust him to bring the ball, be a situational point guard at times, keep telling him to let it fly when you’re open, and he made two (3-pointers), so he was great.”

It was Mann that helped the Nets reel the Suns in.

Brooklyn shaved a 20-point deficit to four in the first half and was down 17 with nine minutes left before Mann fed Clowney for a three-point play that shaved the deficit to 118-114 with 4:01 to play.

Brooks and former Net Royce O’Neale answered with back-to-back 3-balls before Booker’s eight-footer gave Phoenix a 126-115 cushion with 52 ticks remaining.

“I think their ability to make open 3s,” Mann ceded when asked why the Nets’ rallies fell short.  “They’re a veteran team. They’ve been in games like this numerous times. So we didn’t really shake them.”

Former Net Royce O’Neale celebrates after hitting the dagger 3-pointer Monday night as the Suns held off a late Nets rally. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

As a 29-year-old, seven-year veteran on the youngest roster in the NBA, Mann is likely to be back on the bench Wednesday when the Nets tip off at the Garden, especially with Dёmin and Thomas expected back.

That won’t stop him from fulfilling his role in this ongoing rebuilding project.

“A lot of these young guys come from situations where they have the ball most of the time. They’re the main guy on the team,” said Mann. 

“And they’re expected to always play well and expect shots to always go in and expect us to always have every play call for them. And there’s a lot of money to be made in this league, not being that person.”

Nets lose fifth straight to Pelicans

Mounting losses can’t slow down Sharpe

Flagg drives Mavericks past slumping Nets

Magic spoil Dёmin’s big finish at Barclays