The Nets look to close the play-in gap facing the Hawks for two
The Brooklyn Nets begin a four-game homestand tonight at the Barclays Center with 24 regular season games remaining, and trailing the Atlanta Hawks by four games for the final NBA Eastern Conference NBA Play-In Tournament spot. The Nets are 22-36 and the No. 11 seed. The Hawks are 26-32.
In a scheduling anomaly, the Nets play back-to-back home games against the Hawks. They will host them again on Saturday afternoon. Atlanta will be without three-time NBA All-Star guard Trae Young, who recently tore a ligament in his left hand and will be sidelined until at least the end of March. Young leads the Hawks in points (26.4), assists (10.8), and steals (1.4).
Two wins against Atlanta would put Brooklyn only two games out of the play-in, whereas a sweep by the Hawks would leave the Nets six games behind with only 22 contests left to play. Splitting the two games does little for Brooklyn. Furthermore, the Nets will meet up with the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, which have been severely weakened by injuries this season, including one to its best player, star point-guard Ja Morant. The 2022 All-NBA selection had a season-ending surgery on his right shoulder in January.
The Nets defeated Memphis 111-86 on Monday in a team effort that saw all five starters and two players off the bench score 10 or more. Brooklyn lost Tuesday to the Orlando Magic 108-81.
They will close out the four-game home stretch against the Philadelphia 76ers next Tuesday. The 76ers have been struggling since their reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid has been out. Embiid has not played since January 30 when Golden State Warriors forward Johnathan Kuminga unintentionally fell on his left knee diving for a loose ball, injuring Embiid’s left meniscus.
Nets guard Cam Thomas, who is the team’s second-leading scorer at 20.9 points per contest, left Monday’s game against Memphis with an ankle injury and did not play Tuesday against Orlando. Thomas missed nine games earlier this season with an ankle injury. His status for tonight at AmNews press time was uncertain.
Even if Thomas is out for the first game of two versus the Hawks, four games at home against three teams without injured superstars is an opportunity for the Nets to make up ground in the standings. Brooklyn’s interim head coach Kevin Ollie says his team outlook remains optimistic.
“They just kept believing [because] it’s been a couple up and down days, unknown days, and they just stayed together,” he said after the Grizzlies win. “One thing I know about this team, they love each other and that’s the only thing I want to see because love can get through anything. So the joy and the love that they share for each other is amazing.
“They play for each other, they want to win for each other. And that’s what we got to do. That’s the way we have to play. We got to play with grit, we got to play with defense, and then we got to share the basketball.”
After the homestand, the Nets will begin a five-game road trip, all against East opponents, next Thursday.
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