Nets fittingly lost when it mattered to alter NBA draft pick plans

It was a fitting end to the season for the Nets.After a year that saw them pull out wins when their fans rooted for them to tank, they lost when a victory would’ve actually helped them in the draft.And it was against their archrival no less, blowing a lead and falling 113-105 to the Knicks before a sellout crowd of 17,926 at Barclays Center that included team owner Joe Tsai.The Nets (26-56) finished with the league’s sixth-worst record and the lottery’s sixth-best odds.Thanks to last summer’s Mikal Bridges trade, they also hold the Knicks’ first-round pick, which fell to 26th after Sunday’s result.If the Nets had held on against their rival, the pick would’ve been in a five-way tie for 22nd.

Instead they suffered a costly defeat and did so relying mostly on players who may be in different uniforms next season, or at best on the end of the bench.“I [told them] I was proud of them for the season, the work they put in, the good intentions they’ve had,” said head coach Jordi Fernández.“You know what we’ve built so far, and we have to keep moving on and keep working.

And I was very, very happy for the guys.Obviously, [we] wanted to win that game but couldn’t make it happen.”Bridges, who the Nets traded across the East River for a record five first-round picks and a swap, started and got ambivalent boos from the home crowd.

But he wasn’t the former Net who came back to haunt his old team.Landry Shamet carried the backup-heavy Knicks with a game-high 29 points on 7-of-13 from deep against his old club.Cam Payne added 21.Trendon Watford and Tyrese Martin shared team-high honors for the Nets with 20 points and seven rebounds each.

Jalen Wilson, who led the team in minutes Sunday with 37:58 and this season with 2,031, added 18 points.Nic Claxton started as usual, but sat the entire fourth.And there were a host of youngsters fighting to impress before the rebuild begins in earnest with this summer’s four first-round rookies.“This summer,...