As Damian Lillard walked off the Moda Center court Friday night, he found himself in the midst of an unwelcome version of been here, done that.

His left hand was numb. His pride was dented. His demeanor was downtrodden.

The Brooklyn Nets had just swatted the Portland Trail Blazers across the face with a surprising 101-97 defeat in front of a sellout crowd, a loss that dropped the Blazers' to a disappointing 6-6 on the young season.

In yet another close game, the Blazers suffered yet another close loss. And even though there would be questions about the Blazers' effort, inconsistency and shaky offensive play, Lillard couldn't help but contemplate what could be in an alternate universe where these Blazers were clutch rather than clumsy.

"Walking off the court, I was thinking about it," Lillard said. "I think what makes it so frustrating is that we could be 10-2. We could be very easily 10-2. It makes losses like this hurt even more because you've already let some slip, games that (we) should have won .... We had a five-point lead at a point where we could have taken control of the game. Let that slip and you lose another one and you find yourself at 6-6. But I don't think we should be having our heads down or nothing like that. We've been in worse situations ... being here is our fault. We've had our chances."

In many ways it was the same old story Friday night for these Blazers. It was the sixth time in 12 games an outcome was decided by four points or less and the Blazers are a pedestrian 2-4 in those games. The offense was lackluster again, mustering the second-fewest points and second-fewest assists (17) of the season. But unlike previous nights, shooting was only part of the problem.

Facing a young-and-hungry team that played fast and hard, the Blazers couldn't keep up. The Nets used a variety of small lineups and switched almost everything on defense, confounding the Blazers, who abandoned the crisp, fluid passing that defines coach Terry Stotts' flow offense in favor of one-on-one basketball that ultimately failed.

Along the way, the Nets seemed to gather every deflection, chase down every loose ball and simply outhustle a Blazers team in a building that historically energizes them.

"They had a little bit more want to," Lillard said. "They went after it a little bit harder than we did."

Added Stotts: "They played harder than we did. Got loose balls. They ran faster. And the last five minutes, anything can happen."

The game-clinching final possessions epitomized a maddening night.

With the Nets leading 98-97 with less than 30 seconds left, D'Angelo Russell created a favorable defensive switch at the top of the key, working around a screen to get a one-on-one against Ed Davis. After letting some clock run, Russell charged toward the hoop and blew by Davis for a layup. Along the way he was fouled and headed to the free throw line with a chance to push the Nets' lead to four points with 11.4 seconds left.

Russell bricked the free throw. But Rondae Hollis-Jefferson tapped the rebound out to the perimeter and Russell chased it down. He made one of two free throws with 8.1 seconds left.

On the other end, out of a timeout, the Blazers were disjointed and couldn't muster a good look. CJ McCollum missed a tough, contested three-pointer, sending the Blazers to their most discouraging loss of the season.

Shaky defense. Shoddy offense. Lack of hustle. A little bad luck. The crucial final possessions featured it all.

Perhaps most curious, the Blazers played all but 53 seconds of the fourth quarter without Jusuf Nurkic, who was benched. Nurkic led the Blazers with 21 points, making 10 of 20 shots, and seemingly could have been a difference-maker against a team that played small and struggles to contain talented bigs. But Stotts said he went away from Nurkic in the make-or-break fourth because he felt the Blazers were "giving up too much" defensively against the Nets' small lineups and preferred the athleticism of Davis. At least twice, assistant coach David Vanterpool popped up from the bench and screamed at Nurkic for what appeared to be a lack of defensive hustle.

In the end, it was another frustrating and perplexing defeat. This was supposed to be the easiest part of the Blazers' schedule, a home-friendly stretch of winnable games over the first month of the season. But the Blazers are a mere 4-4 in eight games at the Moda Center, with close losses and subpar offense sabotaging the hope of a fast start to the season.

Since that inspiring last-second victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and encouraging performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Blazers have been bullied by the Grizzlies and outhustled by the Nets (5-7), continuing a trend of inconsistent play that was supposed to be a thing of the past.

It was more of the same Friday, another round of been there, done that.

"It was a game that we should have won," Davis said. "This is just a bad loss for us. With us wanting to be a playoff team, make a push at this thing ... it just hurts.

"It's just weird. Every game we've been in it ... we've had a chance. But we turn the ball over late, can't get the stop we need. It's just small things. If things had gone our way, we're 9-3 or 8-4. That's the frustrating thing. You come here against a team that we should put away and we give it away. With how stacked the West is, these games hurt the rest of the season. This is a bad loss, man."

Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman