Jacque Vaughn highlights Brooklyn's fatigue display in the brutal loss vs. Denver: "Tough back-to-back"

From enduring the heat of the desert to climbing the suffocating 5,280 feet of the Mile High City, Vaughn admits it’s way too much for his tired Nets squad.

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From crossing the scorching desert to scaling the chilly, rocky mountains of Colorado.

This has been the summary of the Brooklyn Nets' insane two-day stretch. While they were able to pick up the signature victory of their season in the valley against the Phoenix Suns on a tight ball game last Wednesday, they afterward got shredded by the defending champ Denver Nuggets and its mile-high altitude on Thursday.

It's an absolute grinding journey for the Nets, which the gasping Jacque Vaughn believes is just plainly out of their control.

Tired and exhausted

After a fantastic two-way winning demonstration they presented against Phoenix, Brooklyn showed the opposite side in Denver.

They weren't able to contain the weapons of the Nuggets triggered by reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic, in which six players cracked through the double-digit mark. The Nets, meanwhile, weren't able to outmatch them and didn't even lead in any single second of the entire 48-minute play as Mikal Bridges registered an uncharacteristic nine points in 3-of-8 shooting.

Coach Vaughn can only admit that his team ran out of gas upon landing in Denver shortly after they went toe-to-toe against Phoenix.

“Tired group. Yeah, tough back-to-back,” Vaughn said. “I don’t like to use excuses, but I told our group I thought our intent was good coming into the game. We just didn’t have it, and on a team that was rested and ready for us, [it's a] tough back-to-back. The emotional and mental part of it? We just didn’t have it.”

Move forward and stronger

Spencer Dinwiddie can only share the same insights as Vaughn.

For the veteran, it would be better for the Nets to keep moving now, focus on their next two remaining games, and end the road trip with a fairly satisfying outcome.

“Obviously, we played two of the best teams in the league back-to-back: That’s always going to be tough. And then … the altitude,” Dinwiddie said. “I feel like we came in with the right intention, just didn’t execute, had too many turnovers, and they shot the ball really extremely well as well.

“I mean, if you look at the schedule, obviously, this would probably be a scheduling loss, right? So for all intents and purposes, we’re kind of 1-1 on the trip right now, and we go into Golden State and Utah and try to get two wins.”

The biggest takeaways from the Nets’ blowout loss to the Nuggets