The undermanned Nets have played 31 games this season, and first-year coach Jordi Fernandez has already used 16 different starting lineups.
Brooklyn has impressively racked up enough wins to get around the end of play heading into the new year, but the Nets were unable to hold off Victor Wimpanyama and the Spurs on Friday night, falling 96-87 at Barclays Center.
Rookies Cam Johnson (hip contusion) and Ben Simmons (lower back maintenance) join leading scorer Cam Thomas (hamstring) out of the Nets' lineup.
After scoring 42 points, 18 rebounds and four steals in a Christmas loss to the Knicks at the Garden, Wimpanyama scored 15 of his 19 points after halftime.
Former St. John's player Julian Champagne added 18 points off the bench for San Antonio (16-15).
Veteran guard Shake Milton made his first start of the season after scoring 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday's comeback win in Milwaukee.
He contributed 16 points and 10 assists, but the Nets fell to 12-19 before Sunday's game in Orlando.
Nick Claxton had 11 points and 10 boards to maintain the lead in its matchup with Wimpanyama, and Keion Johnson scored 15 of his career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter for Brooklyn.
Ball like Tyrese Martin of the Brooklyn Nets too
Late on defense during the first half on Friday night
Barclays Centre. Robert Sabo for the New York Post
Dorian Finney-Smith returned after missing three games due to a calf injury, but he only got two points in 27 minutes.
“CJ took a knee to the hip [in Milwaukee]So he's going to come out, and like we've done before, it's a next-man-up mentality,” Fernandez said of Cam Johnson before the game. “All the shots he was supposed to take, someone else is going to have to take them [them]”.
Milton has been among those playing regularly and contributing amid a rash of injuries especially since point guard Dennis Schroder traded earlier this month to the Warriors.
Thomas, the Nets' leading scorer with 24.7 points per game, is still close to returning from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since November 25.
Milton and Keon Johnson were deployed in the backcourt to start, with Simmons also sitting out at the end of back-to-back games to maintain his lower back.
Wembanyama delivered a dunk in the first minute, but the 7-foot-3-inch French prodigy outscored Claxton 6-2 in the opening session, giving the Nets a 22-11 lead within 12 minutes.
The Spurs missed 21 of 25 field goal attempts in the period and only avoided holding single digits when Keldon Johnson fired a shot up the middle at the buzzer.
That still marks the fewest points Brooklyn has allowed in any quarter this season and the lowest first-quarter total since the Hornets were also held to 11 in April 2021.
The Spurs scored the first nine points and opened the game on a 14-2 run, taking a one-point lead just three minutes into the second quarter.
Champagne hit 10 3-pointers, including three 3-pointers, in the period as the sides were tied at 41 at intermission.
Wimbanyama went outside for a two-handed dunk and a corner 3 to take a one-point lead early in the third period, then drained two more long-range buckets to help extend the Spurs' advantage to 74-62 heading into a 74-62 final quarter.
