The Brooklyn Nets (1-9) have had a rough start to the 2025-26 NBA season as they seem to experience blowout after blowout along the journey of another rebuilding season. Brooklyn came into the season projected to be one of the worst teams in the league, but somehow, their performance to start the campaign could have some thinking that this season could be worse than expected.
“While their losing streak didn’t get unruly, the Nets’ defense is certainly a thing. Their win in Indiana was the only time they’ve held their opponent below 120 points per 100 possessions, a mark that the Nets’ offense has yet to eclipse,” John Schuhmann wrote for NBA.com in his latest power rankings article. To Schuhmann’s point, Brooklyn’s defense has been whatever the opposite of excellent is.
“Prior to their loss at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, the Nets had been outscored by only 2.4 points per 100 possessions after halftime,” Schuhmann continued. “But they’re the only team that hasn’t held a lead at the half, ranking as the league’s worst team by wide margins in both the first quarter (minus-21.9 per 100) and the second (minus-25.7 per 100).”
The Nets have been an interesting team to watch this season as they have only had two games where one could argue that they played well for four quarters: Oct. 29 against the Atlanta Hawks and Nov. 5 at the Indiana Pacers. From the way it looks, it seems that Brooklyn gets down early only for them to have to pour extra energy into their game in the second half to try to make the game interesting. The numbers show that, according to Schuhmann.
“The difference between the first-half Nets and the second-half Nets has been almost entirely on the defensive end of the floor,” Schuhmann wrote. To drive the point home in terms of Brooklyn’s defense, the Nets rank towards the bottom of several defensive categories, including opponents points per game, fastbreak points per game, and paint points per game, according to Team Rankings.