Nothin' But Nets
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Brooklyn Nets: One writer’s 10 favorite first-half Nets moments

By Phil Watson

Brooklyn Nets Jarrett Allen (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Brooklyn Nets Jarrett Allen (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets Jarrett Allen (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

The Brooklyn Nets had a wild, wacky first half of the NBA season, with some lows, a lot of highs and a number of memorable moments. Here are 10 of those.

The first 59 games of the Brooklyn Nets‘ 2018-19 campaign have been so full of highs and lows that it’s been like an exhilarating ride on a roller coaster.

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The Nets lost eight straight games at one point in late November and early December, then followed that up immediately with seven straight victories.

They were destined for the lottery, they’re a surefire playoff team.

There have been so many great moments already this season that culling a list to just 10 was difficult.

In what is coming ominously close to 50 years as a Nets’ fan, this season isn’t the best I’ve seen from the team. That would be the run the old New York Nets went on in 1974-75 when they won a franchise-record 58 games before faltering in the playoffs.

It’s not the most surprising season. That would have to be the 2001-02 New Jersey Nets who doubled their win total from 26 to 52 after adding Jason Kidd and rolled all the way to the NBA Finals.

But this one has to rank right up there among the most purely enjoyable season.

At 30-29, Brooklyn has the inside track to its first playoff berth in four years and potentially their first winning record in five. Heck, with 23 games and seven weeks remaining in the season, the Nets are just three wins away from blasting past Las Vegas’ over-under projection of 32.5 wins.

And they’ve done it despite a truckload of injuries that this close-knit team with the joyous celebrations from the bench has battled through.

That might be the most enjoyable aspect of this season so far. I remarked to a colleague just today that this is more like watching a college team than a bunch of jaded NBA pros. They celebrate little plays and big, their most prominent players will cheer like crazy when not on the floor.

This group just genuinely seems to like each other, care about each other and take extreme pride in what they’ve already accomplished and what’s still left to do.

As I said, getting this list to just 10 moments was a daunting task and if your favorite didn’t make the list, it’s intended as a slight.

Rather, it’s just more confirmation that the Brooklyn Nets have made 2018-19 a special one in the third year of the massive rebuilding project took on by general manager Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson in 2016.

Other teams around the NBA grab headlines with the off-court drama surrounding them — does this player have a beef with this teammate? Is this superstar angling to get that superstar to his city, regardless of the consequences?

Brooklyn just stays together, fights together, wins together.

And — in a true cop out — here are my top 10 favorite moments from the first half of the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018-19 season, presented in chronological order … because ranking them might have taken me until next February.