Spurs rookie Stephon Castle glares at Trendon Watford after a vicious dunk in the fourth quarter.

The Nets lost at the Spurs 127-113 in a game where Brooklyn trailed by as many as 25 points to a San Antonio team that was missing Victor Wembanyama for the matchup. Thomas led the team in scoring with 24 points and also picked up six assists while Trendon Watford did a lot of everything for the Nets as he picked up his first double-double this season with 12 points,

The Brooklyn Nets will be severely shorthanded on Friday against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesar’s Arena. Cam Thomas and Trendon Watford were ruled out for the match on the second night of a back-to-back due to left hamstring injury management.

Brooklyn Nets' Jordi Fernandez, center, talks to Nic Claxton, left, a nd Trendon Watford during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday, Feb. 20,

Watford recorded his first double-double of the season Tuesday, marking his seventh such outing over his four-year career. The 24-year-old also tied his career-high mark in steals, and he has racked up multiple swipes in five of his 25 regular-season appearances.

Won't play against Detroit

Watford (hamstring) will be available for Tuesday's game against the Spurs. Watford sat out the second leg of Brooklyn's back-to-back Saturday for precautionary reasons, but he'll likely see his usual minutes Tuesday. Watford is averaging 10.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 0.9 steals over his last 10 appearances.

After coughing up a huge lead Thursday against Golden State, the Nets did it again Saturday in Charlotte. Brooklyn fell 105-102 to the Hornets.

It shouldn’t come at a surprise that the youthful Nets, under a first-year head coach in Jordi Fernandez, have struggled to close out games this season.

The Nets beat the Lakers 111-108 in a game in which Los Angeles was missing one of its best players in LeBron James, but still had Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves available to make things interesting. Forward Noah Clowney came off Brooklyn's bench to put up 19 points and five rebounds in his second game back after a 1-month layoff with a left ankle sprain while birthday boy Keon Johnson poured in 18 points,

Jordi Fernandez opened up on the Nets' stellar defense against Luka Doncic following Monday's win over the Lakers.