WHAT IT MEANS: And so it continues. The Nets' losing streak reached five after they coughed up a five-point fourth-quarter lead and ended up falling to the Cavaliers, 93-91, at the Prudential Center. After tipping off the season with two consecutive wins, the Nets fell to 2-5 overall.
TURNING POINT: The Nets were up 77-71 in the fourth quarter, and appeared to be on the verge of ending their skid. But their perimeter defense let them down. The Cavaliers drilled five of six shots from 3-point territory in the fourth quarter. Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams ignited a 10-0 burst with a pair of long-distance bombs that put the Nets away for good. And Anthony Parker delivered the knockout blow with a triple of his own to make it 89-82 Cleveland with under two minutes left. Then Parker drained two free throws with 20 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. The Nets never recovered.
STAR OF THE GAME: Travis Outlaw. The sharp-shooting swingman (Tuesday night anyway) was the unsung hero for the Nets, picking up the slack with Devin Harris plagued by first-half foul trouble and Brook Lopez struggling to assert himself on the interior. The former Trailblazer knocked down 11-of-21 shots overall, and he was 4-for-6 from 3-point range as he finished with a season-high 27 points. With a lack of production from his supporting cast, though, that wasn't enough.
UP NEXT: The Cavaliers again on Wednesday night, in the second half of a back-to-back home-and-home series. Then the Nets head back to The Rock to face the Magic -- a team that demolished them by 15 points in Orlando on Friday night -- before embarking on a daunting four-game West Coast swing, which begins in Los Angeles next Monday against the Clippers.