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MINNEAPOLIS - This was supposed to be the skid-buster, but instead it epitomized the Nets' woes.

Things have gotten so bad they can't even beat the worst team in the NBA despite holding a 15-point lead with 9:34 remaining and a seven-point lead with 1:19 to go.

So the Nets went home from their six-game, 10-night trip with their most embarrassing and pathetic loss of the streak and the season, a 98-95 humbling decision to the now eight-win Minnesota Timberwolves.

Nine straight losses now match what the Nets had in November 2004. But that was a bad team, without Jason Kidd and Vince Carter, and with a bunch of players who either out of the league or barely playing.

This streak is worse, much worse, which made this skid-tying defeat so fitting because of how bad the loss was.

These Nets have Kidd and Carter and Richard Jefferson. The trio was having big games as Jefferson scored 35, Carter 25 and Kidd nine straight in a third-period run that put the Nets up eight.

But they couldn't close out Minnesota. The Nets let them end the game on a 33-15 run and score the game's last 10 points. They didn't defend late, didn't close out on Minnesota's three-point shooters and let Al Jefferson abuse them just as he did when he was in a Celtic uniform.

"They hit shots, they got free throws, they started hitting three-point shots," Carter said after missing the game-tying three just before the form. "We put them right back in the game."

The Nets have done that before many times, but this one stings because they were in control and thought they were going to go home with a win. The locker room seemed to be a mix of players who were down, almost defeated, and others who seemed not to care.

That has been a part of the problem this season and during this skid.

Jason Kidd, normally one of the last ones dressed, was the first one dressed and out of the locker room. According to a report Sunday, Kidd has instructed his agent to ask the Nets to seek a trade before the deadline.

He certainly doesn't seem to want to be here, but that's not news. He hasn't wanted to be here all year.

Of course, Kidd is part of the problem but do you blame a soon-to-be 35-year-old future Hall of Famer to go elsewhere and play for a contender? No.

This loss proved that no matter if the Nets bounce back, they're not going anywhere.

STATS OF THE GAME
• Someone named Jefferson scored 35 of the game's first 77 points.
• Someone named Jefferson scored 53 of the game's first 103 points.
• Minnesota's Jefferson grabbed the game's two biggest rebounds.
• Minnesota's Jefferson made the four biggest foul shots
• Al Jefferson scored 20 in the first half. The rest of the Wolves had 18.
• Jefferson took the Wolves' first 13 foul shots.

STARS OF THE GAME
Big Al Jefferson was a beast with a career-high 40 points and 19 rebounds, including eight offensive.

QUOTEBOOK
"It's disheartening. Anytime you lose it's tough. We've had some tough games on this road trip where we were down by a lot of points and fought back to get it within single digits. This game is the total opposite we were in control the whole game and there at the end we let it get away."
- Kidd on the game.

"Their last 10 possessions I think they scored eight times. But it started even before that. We're up 15, get some silly turnovers and instead of making 15, 17 we let them back in the game and couldn't get stops late."
- coach Lawrence Frank on the game

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Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)

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SATURDAY, January 26: Posted at 1:35 a.m. ET

MINNEAPOLIS - Their words were the equivalent of what Rick Pitino said about the Celtics many years back.

Kenyon Martin is not walking through that door, Kerry Kittles is not walking through that door, Aaron Williams and Lucious Harris are not walking through that door.

The Nets have to get it done with what they have because they are a different team than those groups that went to the NBA Finals twice and won three straight Atlantic Division crowns, far different and far removed.

Even Martin said it before scoring 20 points and helping Denver hand his old team their eighth straight loss on Friday.

"It's a lot different seeing them play now then when I was there," Martin said.

It wasn't meant as a shot. It's reality.

The Nets have a different make up and play the game differently, without the same sense of urgency and passion and energy, don't run as much, don't move as well offensively or take care of the ball the same, and never mind defensive.

These Nets have allowed 585 points in the first five games of this west trip - which mercifully ends tomorrow against the Timberwolves - and have yielded six straight 100-point games.

That first year of Jason Kidd and company - 2001-02 - the Nets allowed their sixth 100-point game in Game 25. The following year No. 6 came in Game 36 and the next year - Martin's and Kittles' last as Nets - No. 6 came in Game 65.

"We have a different team," Richard Jefferson said. "You can't compare a team of Kenyon and Kerry with a team with Vince and Josh Boone. We're being unrealistic to compare them.

"It's like comparing the Shaq and Kobe Lakers to the Lakers team now. They're a different team, a differnet makeup. We don't get fastbreak points. We don't do that type of stuff. We've got to score some more points, too."

Jefferson is being consistent with some things he's said all along, that this team doesn't run enough and that they're not the same defensively. No argument from anyone.

In other words, they have to find a way to win with their personnel unless and until Rod Thorn pull something off on the trade front, and we fully believe he will do something.

"You got to play with the guys you have here," Kidd said. "We got to find out a way to win with the group we have and management will have to do what management has to do."

This team is a disappointment. They're one-game off the pace of the 2004-05 team. Those Nets were 17-26 at this stage. These Nets are 18-25.

But those Nets were minus Kidd for 16 games and didn't acquire Carter until mid-December. Kidd has missed one game and Carter five this season so there is no excuse for being compared to that team.

That team also lost nine straight games. But Kidd didn't play in those nine games and Carter was in Toronto still.

If the Nets lose tomorrow to the Timberwolves, the NBA's worst team, they would match that mark of nine straight, but it would be worse, far worse. Kidd, Carter and Jefferson are all playing.

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Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)

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SATURDAY, January 26: Posted at 1:35 a.m. ET

DENVER — After scoring 119 points at Golden State on Thursday, the Nets couldn't reach the teens in the first period last night.

Coach Lawrence Frank said the Nets didn't have "a lot of offensive energy," but no one would pin it on playing the Warriors the night before. Be thankful for that because if they would have resorted to excuses then you know they're a team that is no longer searching. They would be a team conceding.

No, after the Nets lost 100-85 to the Nuggets they talked about staying together and finding a way to get out of this eight-game losing skid. They have a definite opportunity on Sunday when this six-game trip ends in Minnesota, but the Nets have to seize the opportunity.

Playing for a quarter or part of a half, like they so often do, is not going to get it done. They were down 19 in the first half and 22 in the third but stormed back. And after it was 18 again, the Nets came back and got it to five withg 3:46 left.

They didn't score again.

"We had the opportunity for it to go either way and we just lost control of the game at that point," Jason Kidd said after triple-double No. 98.

"We cut it to five," Frank said. "At that [point], that's the moment of truth. Once you get it there, less than three minutes, five-point game, it's anyone's game."

Yes, but the Nets couldn't get it done in a very winnable game against the Nuggets, who were minus Carmelo Anthony. But the Nets weren't aggressive enough from Vince Carter on down.

The Nuggets shot just 36 percent, a worse percentage than the Nets, yet they win by 15. The reasons:

• The Nuggets attempted 24 more free throws and made 23 more
• The Nuggets committed 10 fewer turnovers and had 11 more points on turnovers
• They scored 24 fastbreak points to 11 for the Nets

In essence, the Nets were outworked and outhustled again. They can't win games if they're not giving full effort or willing to outduel the other team.

They can't sleep on the Timberwolves, nor should the Nets. They have the third-longest current losing streak.

The Nets have to play the Timberwolves, who have beaten the Warriors and Suns recently, with passion and fire for longer stretches or eight could become nine and a lonely, quiet flight home.

STATS OF THE GAME
• The Nets scored 12 points in the first 14:36.
• They missed their first five foul shots.
• Both teams were shooting 7-for-29 at one point and Denver was up 12.
• Both teams ended the first half shooting 13-for-43 and Denver led by 16.
• Denver was 18-for-23 from the line in the first half. The Nets were 2-for-8.
• Malik Allen's three late in the first half was the second of his career.

STARS OF THE GAME
Linas Kleiza and Kenyon Martin picked up for Anthony. Kleiza scored 18 of Denver's 26 points over a second and third-quarter run that put the Nuggets in control and hit a three late to make it a 10-point game. Martin had 20, including 10 in the fourth.

QUOTEBOOK
"Once again it got away from us early. We were down 20 early on. We fought back, fought hard but couldn't get past that five-point mark. I think it was 90-85. We didn't score after that." — Josh Boone on the start.

"We got off to a slow start. We played good defense. We held this team to 36 percent, and this is a team with quality bigs and people who attack the basket. One, we couldn't hit a shot early. We couldn't get into a good offensive rhythm. I wasn't aggressive enough. But it was tough." — Richard Jefferson on the game

"Every time you post up, they got three people around you. A lot of our turnovers tonight were we tried teo drive and kick it to a teammate and we'd jump in the air to make a pass. It wasn't necessarily great defense, we were trying to do too much — get it to an open teammate instead of going up and shooting a couple." — More Jefferson.

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Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)

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WEDNESDAY, January 23: Posted at 1:04 a.m. ET

The man running the scoreboard at Oracle Arena should be very busy on Wednesday night. The way the Nets are playing defense, the Warriors could drop 150 on them.

The Nets are not playing defense. They don't score enough to try and outgun anyone, especially in the Western Conference and especially outside of the Eastern Time Zone.

Last night it was the Kings whose shooting percentage, points-per-game and record received boosts by the Nets visiting town. Sacramento buried the Nets 128-94 at Arco.

Three games into the trip, the Nets have allowed 120 to the Clippers, 116 to the Suns and now a season-high 128. The Warriors average 109 and have a game-high of 130 this season. That could be erased if this continues.

It started with a 36-point Kings' first period and after just missing 30 in the second (28), they scored 33 in the third. The fourth was garbage time, but for most of the game the Nets were garbage.

Twenty-six seconds into the fourth, after the Nets went down 26 thanks to an uncontested runner by Francisco Garcia, coach Lawrence Frank called a 20-second timeout. Don't know what he said, but you can imagine that some words, such as pride and some colorful words came out of his mouth.

You have to wonder if anyone is listening anymore. The Nets gave up 31 in the fourth.

"Pathetic performance," Frank said. "Just a dismal performance."

We'll learn in the Golden State game whether the Nets have pride, fight, heart - all the things you need to play competitively and win on the road - and whether they're listening. The Kings maybe healthy finally, but they are not the Suns. Yet the Kings led by at least 10 for the final 30:05.

This was a night where you couldn't point at Vince Carter for not being aggressive enough. He had 21 points and eight assists in 32 minutes. It didn't matter. The Nets didn't show up defensively.

Talk about déjà vu. We all have seen this before from the Nets. But we also have seen it against the Kings.

When the Nets lost to Sacramento last month, it dropped them a season-worst five games below .500. Now, they're five games under .500 again with their season-worst-matching sixth straight loss.

You wonder how long this can continue. The Nets aren't just losing. They're playing without energy and effort. Golden State can't wait until the Nets show up. The Nuggets can't wait either, especially with the Nets coming in and playing the night after Golden State.

In case you're wondering, the Nuggets' high game this season is 125.

STATS OF THE GAME
• The Kings' first three field goals were threes and seven of their first 14 were from downtown. They finished 15-of-24 on threes.
• The 36 points allowed were the most the Nets have given up in a first period this year.
• Kidd had one assist in the first half and no rebounds.
• In the two games against the Nets, the Kings have shot a combined 28-for-45 on threes.
• This was the Nets' second-worst defeat this year. They lost to the Raptors by 37 the second game of the season.

STAR OF THE GAME
Ron Artest led all scorers and seven Kings in double figures with 27 points.

QUOTEBOOK
"The big picture was they never felt us. Did they make shots? Yeah. It's just very very disappointing. It's unheard of and unacceptable to give up 128 points."
-- Frank on the embarrassing loss

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MONDAY, January 21: Posted at 12:05 a.m. ET

The Nets played the night before in L.A. and lost in overtime, and the worst team to play on the tail end of a back-to-back is the Suns.

Still, there is no excuse for being outworked and that's what the Nets were on Sunday.

They were down double-digits for the last 39:17 so it really wasn't much of a game. The bottom line, though, in the fourth quarter of the Nets' 116-92 loss, the Suns were beating them down the floor, beating them to offensive rebounds. They flat-out beat them to everything.

That's inexcusable, no matter the schedule or the opponent. The Suns had more offensive rebounds in the fourth than the Nets did all game. Amare Stoudemire's five — four of which he grabbed in the fourth — matched the Nets total for the night.

The Suns are the best team in the Western Conference, but the Nets should have shown a little more fight, a little more passion. But this is becoming a constant again, like earlier in the season.

The loss to the Knicks before the Nets left for the trip was unacceptable as was their performance in Phoenix. They would have needed a perfect game to win, but the effort was lacking.

Now the Nets are back to being four games under .500 after their fifth loss in a row. They need to sweep the rest of the six-game West trip to come back at 22-22. Truth be told, that's not likely — so long as they continue to play this way.

Once again, Vince Carter was quiet. He took just 13 shots and only four in the second half. He finished with nine rebounds and six assists, but the Nets need more than 10 points from Carter. This is twice in four games now that Carter has had just 10 points.

It's no wonder the Nets are entertaining offers for him, including one with the Pacers for Jermaine O'Neal, which seems like a long shot due to the Indiana power forward's troublesome knees.

The Nets need more from Carter, more passion and energy and pride from everyone.

If this continues something will change. Some faces will change. Team president Rod Thorn must listen to offers and have Kiki Vandweghe make some himself. We know they're already doing that, listening and talking and sorting things out.

They don't want to act hastily, but it's nearly the midpoint and the Nets seem to be regressing. Losing is one thing, but the way they've lost in this stretch of six defeats in seven games — particular to the Bobcats, Blazers, Knicks and now Suns — is a definite cause for concern.

STATS OF THE GAME
• The Nets have lost 14 consecutive games in Phoenix.
• The Nets were outscored 36-12 on three-pointers.
• The Suns' starting frontcourt accounted for their first 21 points of the second half.
• The Suns' starters scored one fewer point than the Nets as a team.
• The Nets took 24 fewer shots than the Suns.

STAR OF THE GAME
Stoudemire scored 17 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and out-ran the Nets' big men to get easy buckets.

QUOTEBOOK
"I think anytime you're struggling you need everyone. Everyone has to pull their weight. That's how it works. We all have responsibilities. We all have to take ownership, starting with me. But everyone has to do a little bit more, a little bit harder, and a little bit more together. That's usually the formula."
• Coach Lawrence Frank on whether Carter and others need to do more

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