Brook Lopez is on the way, Nets fans. He’ll be back before the All-Star break, probably sometime this weekend — maybe even next game. But is it already too late to be meaningful?

The Nets played hard Thursday night against a good Indiana Pacers team playing its third game in three nights.

But playing hard once again was not enough for the Nets, who lost for the eighth straight time, falling to the Pacers, 93-88 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They lost even as Deron Williams scored 29 points, with four assists and six rebounds, and Kris Humphries added 24 and 10 rebounds, with three blocked shots.

via Colin Stephenson of The Star-Ledger