March 13, 2026, 11:17 a.m. ET

The Brooklyn Nets (17-49) were coming off one of their worst losses of the 2025-26 NBA season after losing to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday in a blowout 138-100 loss. Heading into Thursday’s game at the Atlanta Hawks (35-31), Brooklyn continued to deal with some injuries that will impact them for the rest of the season and they just didn’t have enough to finish the game strong.

The Nets lost at the Hawks on Thursday 108-97 despite going back-and-forth with Atlanta for the majority of the game thanks to some of the younger players stepping up on the road. Forward Josh Minott had arguably the best game of his career as he scored a career-high 24 points while filling the stat sheet to the tune of three rebounds, three steals, and three blocks.

Brooklyn began the game being one step slower as they trailed the Hawks 30-21 after the first quarter and while the Nets went into halftime trailing 57-50, the team struggled to defend Atlanta forward Zaccharie Risacher. Risacher scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half as it seemed that Brooklyn’s second unit didn’t have an answer for his athleticism and activity on the glass.

In addition to Minott, Nets rookie guard Drake Powell looked more comfortable as he continues to be in the starting lineup with his 11 points and three assists while forward Noah Clowney had 10 points and six rebounds. Despite the fact that the Nets were playing with its leading scorer in forward Michael Porter Jr. and starting point guard in rookie Nolan Traore, Brooklyn still finished the game shooting 47.2% from the floor and 37.5% from three-point land.

Ultimately, Thursday’s loss came down to the fourth quarter where the Hawks outscored the Nets 26-18 in the period thanks in part to Atlanta forward Jalen Johnson scoring nine of his 21 points in the quarter. Brooklyn will have another chance to break their losing streak with a matchup at a Philadelphia 76ers team on Saturday that could be missing three of its best players in Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George.

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!Josh Minott Notches Career-High

The Nets are at the point of the season where they have to begin evaluating some of the players towards the end of the roster heading into the 2026 offseason. Minott is one of the players that Brooklyn would be wise to evaluate and after he dropped a career-high 24 points to go along with three rebounds, three steals, and three blocks in 24 minutes off the bench, he could be seeing even more playing time down the stretch.

Ben Saraf Struggles Once Again

With rookie guard Egor Demin out for the rest of this season with the increased plantar fasciitis in his left foot, players like rookie guard Ben Saraf will have to pick up the slack in the backcourt. With fellow rookie guard Nolan Traore being rested for Thursday’s game in Atlanta, Saraf started at point guard, but mostly struggled as he had more turnovers (5) than assists (4) and had five fouls in 31 minutes.

Nets Go 11-Deep In Atlanta

With Demin, Traore, Michael Porter Jr., Day’Ron Sharpe, and Ziaire Williams out on Thursday, Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez went 11-deep in his rotation, including playing all three of the Two-Way players. With exactly one month left in Brooklyn’s season, Fernandez and the rest of the coaching staff will have to take a long look at everyone on the roster to see who will be donning a Nets jersey next season when the team hopes to be better.