For Jordi Fernandez, Tuesday was an opportunity to see the Denver team with which he cut his teeth. But for his Nets, it was an opportunity to test themselves against champions.

They failed horribly, blowing a huge double-digit lead and falling, 144-139, in overtime in front of a packed house of 17,926 at the Barclays Center.

The Nets (1-3) head into the end of this back-to-back Wednesday night in Memphis, stinging at having squandered a 17-point cushion.

“When you play against someone that you know and have a lot of respect for, it gets better and better as a true competitor because there’s a relationship, there’s a respect. And for me, it’s a special game,” said Fernandez, who spent six years as an assistant to Mike Malone in Denver.

“But it’s not about me. … Players win games, players play basketball, and the rest of my team, probably for them, it’s another rival team with really good players that we want to present as a challenge. We want to win the match.

Cam Thomas (team-high 26 points) made the first basket in overtime, but the Nets gave up the next eight points and the momentum.

Nikola Jokic – who had a dominant triple-double – tied it up on free throws.

Then the Nuggets star had a miss of his own, and after Thomas was blocked by Christian Braun, Jokic found Aaron Gordon for a layup that left Brooklyn trailing, 131-127, with 3:09 left in the game. extension.

Thomas missed a jumper and Jamal Murray increased Denver’s lead to six. The rest was disappointing.

Dennis Schroder had 28 points and 13 assists – his most as a Net – while shooting 10 of 18 overall and 5 of 11 from deep. But he was hardly alone.

With seven double-digit scorers, Brooklyn had a balanced attack.

He handed out 36 assists for just eight turnovers.

Jokic finished with 29 points, 16 assists and 18 rebounds, while Gordon added 24.

“Nikola is amazing and he always finds a way to be productive,” Fernandez said. “With a special player, you have to show him different looks and play that game, be ready for a lot of coverages. He can score. He can help. He’s a very good rebounder.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges in the NBA because he controls the whole game and makes his teammates better. He’s good on both ends. And it’s really good for our group because we haven’t seen yet this challenge.

The Nuggets looked strong as the team played for the second straight night after overtime.

Trailing 13-12 after Jokic found Murray for a jumper, the Nets went on a long 32-14 run that spanned the first and second quarters.

Nic Claxton’s layup off a pass from Ziaire Williams capped the run and gave the Nets a 44-27 lead at 1:11 of the second quarter. But it didn’t last.

Brooklyn still led 99-93 after Claxton’s midrange jumper with less than a minute left in the third before giving up a 13-2 run that carried into the fourth.

Russell Westbrook scored a 3-pointer to put the Nuggets ahead, 106-101, with 9:55 to play.

The Nets didn’t back down, responding with eight unanswered, capped by Westbrook missing a dunk and Williams’ layup going the other way for a 109-106 lead.

But Denver tied it at 112, 116 and 118. And Gordon gave the Nuggets a 121-120 lead with 2:17 to play.

Thomas committed an untimely shot clock violation, but redeemed himself with a strong kickoff with 1:23 left.

And after rebounding from a Murray miss, Thomas pulled off a tough turnaround against Braun for a 124-121 advantage with 33 seconds left in regulation.

Jokic scored on a putback and Dorian Finney-Smith made just one of two free throws to leave the door cracked.

And Denver kicked off, Jokic gaining position for a 5-foot hook shot with 8.8 seconds left in regulation.

Finney-Smith’s missed corner 3 relegated the Nets to overtime, where they couldn’t handle Jokic.