For the fourth game in a row, the Nets failed to find a victory out here.

But in the next two possessions, the Nets failed to score.

More important, the Nets failed to buckle mentally after throwing away two games in the past eight days.

Saturday's defeat was the first time in seven games that the Nets had failed to score at least 84 points.

Today, the Nets failed to get a 3-point attempt when trailing by 99-96 with nine seconds remaining.

And in the weeks before the Nets failed to qualify for the 1989 playoffs, he knew they soon would be restructuring the team.

The Nets had failed on four previous attempts at winning three consecutive games this season.

The Nets failed to reach 100 points for the sixth time in their last seven games.

The Nets failed on 20 of their first 26 shots from the floor in falling behind by 23 points.

But as often happens, the Nets (21-35) failed to seize an opportunity to win.