INDIANAPOLIS — This road trip can’t end quickly enough for the Nets. Their gossamer-thin Play-In hopes may be over before this trek is.
Brooklyn suffered a 121-100 loss to the Pacers before a crowd of 17,009 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Nets (26-41) squandered an opportunity to make up ground in the chase for the last Play-In spot in the Eastern Conference.
They fell 3 ½ games behind Atlanta, despite the idle Hawks having dropped three in a row.
With just 15 games left on the slate, their chances are rapidly shrinking from miniscule to microscopic.
Especially if Mikal Bridges doesn’t snap out of whatever malaise he’s dealing with.
The Nets were very much in this game Saturday night, down just 70-68 midway through the third quarter.
But they surrendered nine unanswered points, and gave up the ghost from there.
They capitulated — as is their custom — and fell behind by as much as 27 in the fourth.
Pascal Siakam had a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, which outscored Brooklyn 82-40 in the paint.
Indiana improved to 38-30.
Cam Thomas led the Nets with 22 points and a career-high tying eight rebounds. But Bridges had just seven points on 1-of-8 shooting.
