• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Nets seek winning trend, welcome Pelicans to town

Feb 9, 2014 - 3:01 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - It wasn't long ago the Brooklyn Nets were playing decent basketball and now they're beginning to falter once again.

The Nets hope to nip their recent struggles in the bud when they host the New Orleans Pelicans Sunday at Barclays Center.

Brooklyn had a two-game winning streak stopped with Friday's 111-95 setback to the Detroit Pistons and lost for the fourth time in six tries after winning 10 of 11 games. Jason Terry paced Brooklyn with 18 points, while Joe Johnson netted 16 for the Nets, who trailed 67-44 at halftime.

"The guys kept playing," Nets head coach Jason Kidd said of his team battling despite being down double digits for the majority of the second half. "The guys who were out there playing continued to execute. We got some stops finally, but the big thing is that we continued to play."

Deron Williams had 10 points and no assists in defeat, while Paul Pierce scored just four points. Kevin Garnett did not play against the Pistons for rest and should be back Sunday.

The Nets, who have a 14-11 record at Barclays Center, will also host Charlotte on this brief homestand before hitting the road for seven games in a row. They hope to extend their home winning streak to three games versus New Orleans and are 8-2 at home since the start of January.

In milestone news for the Nets, Terry needs three assists for 5,000 in his career.

New Orleans will start a three-game road trip Sunday against Brooklyn, Toronto and Milwaukee, and is 9-15 away from the Big Easy.

The Pelicans just went 3-1 on a recent homestand, which concluded with Friday's 98-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Anthony Davis had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Eric Gordon scored 20 points and Brian Roberts ended with 16 to round out the double-digit scorers.

"All we're really doing is playing hard. We make mistakes, and we definitely don't play a perfect game, but we're outplaying everyone as far as energy. Tonight was just fun," Pelicans guard Austin Rivers said.

New Orleans has won six of its last eight games and will play Brooklyn for the first time this season. The Nets were 2-0 in last season's series and have won four of the previous six matchups between the teams.

The Pelicans have dropped three of four games at the Nets.