Wisconsin Herd fall to Long Island Nets’ clutch defense

Concerning takeaway

There’s no reason for it to be a concern going forward, but fatigue seemed an obvious issue for the Herd on Saturday.

Having played a really tough game against the Blue the night before, matching up against a team coming in on multiple days of rest was always going to be a challenge. Ultimately, it showed up down the stretch and certainly played a role in deciding the game.

After leading for much of the first half, the Herd fell away and the Nets took their opportunity to open up a double-digit lead. Still, it felt like the Herd were within reach throughout as the Nets couldn’t pose any meaningful problems.

A run from late in the third quarter and into the fourth proved that the Herd could put it up to Long Island, but even after getting right back in it, Wisconsin didn’t seem to have a final kick in them to get across the line.

The final stretch of the game included spells when the Nets just seemed to be beating the Herd to rebounds, and down the other end, three-point chances that may have fallen on another night were bouncing off the front of the rim on this occasion.

The Herd fought valiantly overall, but just didn’t have enough left in the tank to pull out the win.