The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Miami Heat, 104-98, on March 11. It was their fifth straight loss. They dropped to 25-38 and were 3.5 games out of the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Their season, it appeared, was done.
The Nets have risen from the dead to contend for a playoff spot
The Brooklyn Nets have somehow crawled back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
But Nets coach Lionel Hollins wasn't giving up.
“You keep fighting until the end,” Hollins told reporters after the game. “As long as I have breath and as long as I’m coach, I’m going to keep fighting.”
The Nets followed their coach’s lead. They kept on fighting, and a funny thing happened: they started winning. They won four-of-five games to climb to 29-39, just one game out of the eighth place in the East -- they’re currently 11th, fighting with three other teams for the spot.
No one player has keyed the quick turnaround. Instead, Nets players are taking turns at taking over.
Brook Lopez is a monster
The Nets' triple-overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday was a snapshot of the team's current fight-to-the-end mantra. They trailed by as many as 14 but fought back continually, including a three-pointer by Joe Johnson to send the game to a third overtime, where the Nets prevailed, 129-127. Brook Lopez was phenomenal in the win. He scored 32 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and had five blocks. He followed up that game with a 26-point outburst in a win over the Pacers the next night. He's a menace to guard down low, and he gives the Nets a certified scorer along with Johnson. Lopez is averaging 15.1 points and seven rebounds per game for the Nets this season, and when he plays like he did against the Bucks and Pacers, the Nets are extremely difficult to beat.
Joe Johnson is hitting shots
Johnson isn’t lighting it up from deep, but in the current five-game stretch, he is hitting 52.5 percent of his shots while putting up 15.4 points per game, up from 43.9 percent shooting on the year. The sharpshooting is helping: Over the past five games, when Johnson is on the court, the Nets’ offensive rating is 115.1 compared to 101 when he’s off it. Johnson has never been the superstar the Nets hoped to get when they signed him before the 2012-13 season, but he still has the ability to take over a game. And he gives the Nets an option in late-game scenarios. His game-tying three at the buzzer in the win over the Bucks saved a win.
Jarrett Jack and Bojan Bogdanovic are stepping up
The Nets role players aren't letting the stars do all the work. Jarrett Jack's presence is important to the Nets and Bojan Bogdanovic is shooting even better than Johnson. During the current five-game span, when Jack is on the court, the Nets' net rating is 9.3. When he's off it, it drops to -4.3. That's a 13.6 point swing per 100 possessions. Deron Williams' backup is a hit-or-miss player who sometimes tries to make a play he's not capable of making. But when he's playing well, he's a huge asset to his team. Plus, Williams has shown flashes of his past, brilliant self -- he had 17 points and six assists in the win over the Pacers -- while allowing Jack to do his thing.
Bogdanovic, meanwhile, is hitting an astounding 60.8 percent of his shots from the field and 47.1 percent from deep in the same stretch. He’s playing more than 30 minutes and scoring 14.6 points per game. For a guy scoring 8.4 points per game on the season, his hot streak has come at a perfect time.
The same can be said for the entirety of the Nets' roster. They're playing at a high level right when they need to. The fight for the final playoff spot in the East is going to be tight, but if the Nets keep playing like this, they could be the ones facing the Atlanta Hawks.
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