Nets loss to Raptors tightens grip on sixth spot in lottery standings

The Nets game against the Raptors on Sunday had all kinds of lottery ramification.And both lineups showed it. For months, Toronto has craftily massaged its endgame rotations to tank.

But with the sixth spot in the lottery standings at stake, both teams put forth lineups more befitting Las Vegas Summer League. Playing without their entire starting five, the Nets even handed Drew Timme and Reece Beekman their first-ever starts.And in the end, they fell 120-109 before 17,007 at Barclays Center — a loss that will feel like a win to the pro-tank crowd. This is really Year Zero of the Nets rebuild, suffering for the chance at a high lottery pick next month. The Nets are 25-53 — just 16-43 after a 9-10 start — and seem all but assured of going into the lottery with the sixth-best odds.

Fifth-place Philadelphia has lost 11 straight and is determined to not win for the rest of the season.And after Saturday’s loss, the Nets lead the seventh-place Raptors by 3 ½ games with just four to play.

Sixth appears a fait accompli. With the likelihood of finishing fifth, the Nets would have a nine percent chance to win the lottery and claim Duke star Cooper Flagg as well as a 37.2 percent shot at a top four pick.Their most likely landing spots are seventh (29.8) or eighth (20.5).

The Nets also have three more first-round picks, from the Bucks, Suns and cross-river rival Knicks. With starters Cam Thomas and Noah Clowney already ruled out for the season, Cam Johnson (back), D’Angelo Russell (ankle) and Day’Ron Sharpe (knee) were all hurt Saturday and Nic Claxton was simply rested against Toronto. The Nets were led by Timme, who was just signed from the G-League on March 28.Standing in for Claxton and Sharpe at center, he had 13 points and seven rebounds. Beekman got the nod at point guard and had a team-high 14 points and five assists but posted a horrid minus-26. “They’ve been put in situations that they haven’t before, and I think that’s always a posit...