Nets cant overcome woeful 3-point shooting in sloppy loss to Jazz

The Nets have overcome a slew of injuries to key players to win just enough games to remain around the lottery cut-off this season, but they couldn’t overcome a dreadful outside shooting performance Saturday night. With Dorian Finney-Smith the latest regular out of the lineup, the Nets connected on just 7 of 40 from 3-point range and committed 19 turnovers in a sloppy 105-94 loss to the Jazz at Barlcays Center to slip into a tie with Detroit for the No.10 play-in position in the Eastern Conference. Ben Simmons at least encouragingly registered his third straight game scoring in double figures with a season-high 15 points, along with 10 assists and six rebounds, for the Nets, who will face the Heat in Miami on Monday. Noah Clowney started in place of Finney-Smith and finished with 10 points and six boards, while Cam Johnson added 18 for the Nets (11-17).

Clowney, who missed several games recently with an ankle injury, notably hobbled off the court in the closing minutes. Lauri Markkanen netted 21 points, while Svi Mykhailiuk and Collin Sexton scored 18 apiece as the Jazz (7-20) won consecutive games for the first time this season. Clowney had stepped in and produced after starting center Nic Claxton was ejected in the first half of Thursday’s comeback win in Toronto for hurling the ball into the stands.The 6-foot-9 Clowney had his most extensive run of the season with 11 points and nine rebounds over a season-high 37 minutes in that game. “Next man up,” Clowney said before Saturday’s game.

“Made some mistakes…But I feel like it went well.I didn’t make shots like I wanted to, but we still got the win, so I don’t really care.” Nets GM Sean Marks already dealt away guard Dennis Schroder last week, and players such as Johnson and Finney-Smith also could be moved before the Feb.6 trade deadline to free up even more playing time for younger players. “I know people are liable to be traded, things like that, but my goal is to show up and win ...