Here are some thoughts on Saturday night's 103-89 Spurs win over the Nets:

- Things aren't getting any easier for the Nets, who have seemed to fall into a familiar pattern. They get a good game from Deron Williams, get beaten up in the paint and fall into a hole they can't climb out of.

The problem is, there aren't a ton of ways for them to fix those problems. Really the only thing to do is to wait for Brook Lopez to get back into the lineup and begin to use the lineup the Nets were expecting to use when the lockout ended. One of the lone good things happening now is the team is starting to get healthier, with MarShon Brooks back in the lineup, Lopez hoping to practice this week and DeShawn Stevenson expected to have a shot to return Wednesday against Memphis.

- As difficult as things have been over the past week, they are only going to get tougher between here and the All-Star break. Here's the rest of the Nets' schedule between now and then:

Wednesday vs. Memphis; Thursday @ Indiana; Saturday @ Chicago; Sunday vs. Milwaukee; Monday @ Knicks; Wednesday vs. Magic

It's hard to see many wins in that stretch for the Nets, with four above .500 teams, the Bucks coming on the fourth game in five nights and the Knicks coming on the fifth in six nights, and at the end of the back-to-back-to-back stretch.

- As I've been saying all season, the Nets have little chance to beat anybody if they are missing their 3-pointers. 45-for-134 (33 percent) during their 6-game losing streak, including a dismal 12-for-43 in their losses Friday in Detroit and Saturday against the Spurs.

tbontemps@nypost.com