If the Nets were an up-and-coming team brimming with prospects, this would be the type of loss from which you could glean potential positives. The Nets’ big men showed some solid chemistry together on both ends of the floor. Their guards got to the rim, their wings showed flashes of dominance before it all eventually fell apart.

But the Nets aren’t young. They’re not developing. Hell, the Celtics are. That made this one all the more excruciating to watch after the first fifteen minutes: the Nets allowed the Celtics, who are not a good team, to get easy looks inside, particularly during a long, ugly stretch that spanned the third and fourth quarters.

They’re just about middle-of-the-pack everywhere, a group of aging veterans who at this point have little going for them beyond Mason Plumlee’s development and a series of trade rumors.

This was the first game in a stretch of seven in 11 days. If things don’t turn around soon, they might not end the stretch with the same roster.