Feb. 25, 2026, 5:30 p.m. ET

The Brooklyn Nets (15-42) are embarking in the unofficial second half of the season with the goal of continuing to grow the younger players while hopefully winning more often. Brooklyn has come out of the All-Star break having lost all four of its games and as the season progresses, it seems like they could fade further back within the context of the league.

“The Nets had a rough start to their post-break schedule, scoring an amazingly anemic 85.9 points per 100 possessions as they lost in Cleveland and Oklahoma City,” John Schuhmann wrote for NBA.com in his latest power rankings for the website. Brooklyn’s offense has been rough to watch all season, but Tuesday’s 123-114 loss to the Dallas Mavericks was a reminder that the Nets can put forth a productive offense when the group is focused.

“They were better in Atlanta on Sunday, holding an 11-point lead with eight minutes left … but then scored two points on their final 16 possessions as the Hawks finished the game on a 24-2 run,” Schuhmann continued before noting a troubling trend for one of the youngest teams in the league. “With their losses in Cleveland and Oklahoma City last week, the Nets are 5-27 (with 11 straight losses) against the 16 teams that currently have winning records.”

Since Jan. 1, the Nets have the worst record in the NBA (5-22) while also having the worst net rating in the league (-12.5) by nearly three points per 100 possessions with the Sacramento Kings (-9.8) having the second-worst mark in that metric. It has been somewhat stunning to see Brooklyn’s performance since the calendar flipped to January as they played like one of the best teams in the Association during December.

It doesn’t help the Nets’ cause that forward Michael Porter Jr., who was one of the most notable snubs for this season’s All-Star game, has also been struggling since the beginning of January. Despite the fact that Brooklyn has been one of the worst teams in the league in 2026, the Nets have continued to echo that they are trying to win, but that there is also more at play at this point in the franchise’s rebuild.

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