(Sports Network) - With the worst start in NBA history now in the rear view mirror the New Jersey Nets hope to find the win column for the first time this season tonight when they host the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Nets will be toiling under their third head coach of the season as general manager Kiki Vandeweghe takes over the reins of the club he built as interim coach for the rest of the season.

Vandeweghe is taking over after Lawrence Frank was fired following last Friday's 109-96 loss at Sacramento. Assistant Tom Barrise filled in for two games after Franks dismissal and will return to an assistant's role along with the highly-regarded Del Harris, who was recently hired to help Vandeweghe.

The Nets dropped their 18th straight game to start the season on Wednesday when the team sank to a new low defensively with their second-quarter performance against Dallas.

New Jersey allowed 49 points in the second quarter on the way to a 117-101 defeat to the Mavericks. The Nets now stand as the only team to start an NBA season with 18 straight losses. They had been tied with the 1988-89 expansion Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers in the lockout-shortened 1999 season.

The Nets were actually tied after the first quarter, 28-28, but were dominated in the second by a 49-22 count. The 49 points are the most-ever allowed by the Nets in that quarter and tied the most given up by the team in a single stanza. It also represented the most scored by Dallas for a second quarter. Dallas shot a sizzling 17-of-19 from the field in the period.

Chris Douglas-Roberts had 24 points for New Jersey, which also received 17 points from ex-Maverick Devin Harris and 16 from Brook Lopez.

"At this point I feel like the streak is definitely getting the best of us," said Douglas-Roberts. "It's really starting to get to us now. When a team goes on a run, it's almost like we give up, which is unfortunate. That's what it looks like to me. We lay down instead of trying to fight."

The Nets are now flirting with the longest overall single-season losing streak in NBA history. That record is 23 games, held by the Vancouver Grizzlies (1995-96) and Denver Nuggets (1997-98).

"First we have to believe we can win," admitted Douglas-Roberts. "That's first, even before we get to the other team."

"Obviously, tomorrow's a big day for us," added Harris, referring to Vandeweghe taking over as head coach. "We have to find out what corrections we'll make and how we're going to decide to play the rest of the season."

The Bobcats, meanwhile, lost for the first time in nearly two weeks on Tuesday when Ray Allen led the way with 27 points, as the Boston Celtics defeated Charlotte 108-90.

Nazr Mohammed poured in 16 points for the Bobcats, who saw their season-high, four-game winning streak halted. Raymond Felton scored 14 points, Boris Diaw added 13 and Stephen Graham totaled 12 points in the losing effort.

"Everything we talked about before the game slipped away early on," said Bobcats head coach Larry Brown. "We didn't compete at all. I don't want to take anything away from Boston, but that was embarrassing. We had a few guys playing like they were scared to death."

The Nets, who play their next five games against teams with losing records, are 14-5 all-time against the Bobcats but lost 79-68 in Charlotte last month.