One night the Brooklyn Nets looked like world-beaters by defeating the defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers. Two nights later they were blown out by a bottom-feeding New York Knicks team. What does this mean for the 3-3 Nets?
It is too early to tell just who exactly this year’s version of the Brooklyn Nets are. While we can conclude that they are a poor defensive team, surrendering over 117 points per game, we can also see that the offense is prolific. The team is scoring at a 115 point per game clip.
Unfortunately, the Nets have also been extremely inconsistent. The team has split two games with the Orlando Magic, with both being very close games. The Magic may have finally figured it out themselves though, having beaten both the Cavaliers and Spurs emphatically.
The Nets also lost opening night against the Pacers, surrendering 140 points in the process. Granted, they put up 131 points themselves so that is a forgivable loss. Despite that though,defeating the Hawks is tougher said than done with the way Mike Budenholzer has gotten that team to gel despite a lack of high-end talent and a young roster.
It is the Nets’ recent two game stretch that makes this unit a tough one to figure out, however. On Wednesday, Brooklyn notched a signature win this season when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers at home. What made the win so impressive was the fact that the team was on the second night of a back-to-back and was lacking its top scorer D’Angelo Russell.
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Defeating a LeBron James led team is a triumph no matter how you slice it. Kenny Atkinson got the most out of his roster, with a special performance from Spencer Dinwiddie, who is perhaps the teams greatest triumph story of the Sean Marks era.
All of the momentum was lost last night though when the team lost to the New York Knicks. Surrendering 107 points to a New York Knicks squad that seems destined for a top three choice stings but having Jarrett Jack be the guy that helped orchestrate the offensive outburst by New York is troubling.
Jack is arguably the weakest starting point guard in the league. If he can do damage against Brooklyn, imagine what the likes of Kyrie Irving, John Wall and Russell Westbrook can do.
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Brooklyn has proven capable of beating the best of the Eastern Conference but if it is prone to let-down games against teams like the Knicks, there is still much progress to be made.
Whether or not Atkinson can organize his guys to play like they did Wednesday is anybody’s guess. If the team plays like it did last night, though, it will have a very slim chance of making the playoffs.