Nets fall short in loss to Timberwolves as Brooklyn still looks for playoff berth

BROOKLYN — Nets’ guard Spencer Dinwiddie couldn’t help but laugh at the irony when he discussed his last-second three attempt that would have tied the game. Dinwiddie felt that he was fouled on the attempt, but no call was ever made by any of the officials and Brooklyn ultimately fell 107-102 to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

So what made the situation so ironic? Dinwiddie had recently said in an anonymous player poll that two of his favorite NBA refs were Zach Zarba and Kevin Cutler, who was one of the officials for Tuesday’s game.

“That’s ironic isn’t it? That’s (expletive) hilarious,” Dinwiddie said. “in general I would like to say that I actually don’t change my mind on that. They’re two good dudes but they definitely missed one. Well, several actually. We all saw the replays.”

The loss was a tough one for the Nets, who will have to wait for their playoff ticket to be punched for another day. The Miami Heat, who are chasing the Nets in the standings, also won on Tuesday night as the battle for the sixth seed will continue.

Brooklyn would have clinched a spot in the postseason and avoided the play-in round with a win on Tuesday night and a loss by Miami.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Nets as they’ve hit the final three games left in the regular season. Brooklyn had its two-game lead over the Heat cut to just one game and sets up crucial games against Detroit, Orlando and Philadelphia.

“They’re two good dudes. If I see them in the airport, it’s always love. KC’s from LA. But damn, they blew some,” Dinwiddie added later about the officials. “And it sucks because we’re fighting for a six seed. Nothing you can do but laugh about it now.”

Instead, the Nets fell short in a back-and-forth battle with the Timberwolves that ultimately saw the Nets unable to close out the game. After Dinwiddie knocked down a layup and drew a foul, he failed to hit the ensuing free throw and Karl-Anthony Towns drew a foul on the other end of the floor to break a 100-100 tie with one minute left in the game.

The Nets coughed up the ball on their next possession and Anthony Edwards was able to draw a foul in the paint with 19.4 seconds left on the clock. Edwards hit both free throws and helped secure the game for Minnesota.

Brooklyn had one last shot to tie the game with only seconds remaining, but a three attempt by Dinwiddie hit off the rim and the T-Wolves were able to grab the rebound.

“I couldn’t see, but I don’t know. I felt like it was a tough day for us offensively with the whistle,” Mikal Bridges said. “It’s just a couple of calls where’s – it’s more than a couple – where it was kind of goofy and just a surprising call. So it was weird. But I mean how Spencer reacted it look like he definitely fouled him.”

Dinwiddie finished the game with 30 points on 13-of-24 shooting, which was a season-high for him since was traded to the Nets. It was his fourth 30-point game of the year and first since Jan. 28 when Dallas faced the Utah Jazz.

Mikal Bridges had 24 points by the final buzzer, but shot 1-for-5 from beyond the arc. Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson each had 14 points and Finney-Smith pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.

It was Finney-Smith’s second double-double of the season.

Tuesday’s game featured 24 lead changes and eight ties as the Nets were forced to overcome bad first-quarter shooting and led 62-51 at one point during a 26-10 run during the second and third quarters.