In the final minute of the Nets' 126-121 victory over New Orleans Wednesday night, the Brooklyn Brigade--the die-hard fans at Barclays Center behind the basket to the right of the press box—started chanting, "Eighth Seed! Eighth Seed!"
It's not quite, "We're Number One!", but considering where Brooklyn has been the last three years, the fact that the Nets, with a record of 18-21, briefly passed the Pistons (for about 20 minutes—Detroit's win in Memphis vaulted them past the Nets again) in the fight for the Eastern Conference's last playoff slot was deemed worthy of appreciation.
This team had been one of the worst in the league--a running joke, yet they have managed to turn things around without the luxury of any lottery picks of their own or marquee free agents.
Of course, it's way too early to believe this 10-3 Brooklyn run is sustainable. Their three-games-in-four-nights road trip in Memphis, Chicago and Boston this weekend will be another test for this young club. They didn't handle the schedule well last week in losing games on back-to-back nights in Charlotte and Milwaukee.
And that will be far from the toughest portion of their 2019 slate. The Nets close the season with a seven-game road swing out west (with the final game in Philadelphia) followed by five consecutive elite opponents (Boston, Toronto, Indiana and Milwaukee twice) before finishing up against Miami at home in the finale.
They aren't going to be able to pad their win total against tankers down the stretch like they've done the last two seasons.
However, even if the Nets fall short of the eighth seed in the end, the big picture is the story. This team is progressing. They will surely pass last season's 28-win total by a good enough margin to continue to sell that narrative around the league.
That was always this season's mission.
In season's past, one injury was enough to send the Nets plunging down the standings. As Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said following Wednesday's victory without three starters (Caris LeVert, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Allen Crabbe), "We have a deeper roster" this season, one that has been able to withstand injuries that individually and collectively could have had a devastating effect.
Joe Harris, Rodions Kurucs and Jared Dudley started for Brooklyn on Wednesday in a lineup that before the season, I never would have envisioned capable of beating anyone. Meanwhile, Shabazz Napier returned to the rotation from Atkinson's numbers' crunch to bolster a bench that outscored New Orleans, 55-5.
In addition, the Nets are finishing games that would have been lost earlier in the season. The Pelicans were one of four teams that pulled a rabbit out of a hat against the Nets when they came back from seven points down in the last two minutes for a 117-115 victory on October 26.
The Nets nearly let a 21-point fourth quarter lead slip away on Wednesday, but as they have done often in this stretch, they made enough plays in crunch time to avoid another major meltdown.
"We've got a good group of guys," Nets point guard D'Angelo Russell, who had one of his best all-around games of the season with 22 points, 13 assists, two steals and only one turnover, said. "We've got a great voice from our veteran group. Our young guys buy in—we listen. Just sticking with playing all 48 minutes—I know I tend to get away from that sometimes. Any time can be your number and you just got to be ready to make a play."
Atkinson would like to see the Nets develop a bit of a killer instinct to avoid some of these unnecessary nailbiters. It would help if he instructed his players to get into their offense quicker—too many times the Nets have tried to take the air out of the ball with too much time remaining.
"We still struggled," Atkinson said of Wednesday's late fourth-quarter possessions. "I thought we fouled when we didn't need to foul and gave up a three or two when we didn't need to do it and our execution at the end was so-so," Atkinson said. "That being said, I'm not sure two months ago we win that game."
They didn't. And though no one knew it at the time, those painful losses could very well prove to be the difference between the remarkable achievement of making the playoffs and just another learning experience for a team on a slow and steady ride out of the abyss.
For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1.
