The Nets’ championship vow isn’t looking great

Good morning. We have more on that bit of fun and much more in Monday’s NBA newsletter.

Jan 11, 2016, 1:14 PM UTC

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

SVG’S DETROIT REVOLUTION: Paul Flannery’s Sunday Shootaround dives into the work Stan Van Gundy has done to make the Detroit Pistons look like a Stan Van Gundy team. It’s working: the Pistons are well above .500 and playing solid inside-out ball. Paul talked to SVG and Reggie Jackson about what’s working and what needs work. Plus Shootaround has Paul’s favorite players to watch right now, the week’s best quotes and more. Check it out.

CUTTING DOWN THE NETS: On Sunday, the Nets fired Lionel Hollins and reassigned Billy King. Welp. Brooklyn has been a huge disappointment in that apparently the organization didn’t see itself being this bad this season. (Not one of SB Nation’s preseason prognosticators picked the Nets to finish higher than No. 13 in the East. They’ll be No. 14 or 15 in all likelihood.)

NetsDaily reports that Kings’ bosses didn’t really like the Hollins hiring that King made; reality says Hollins isn’t the problem here. (By the way, Hollins’ top assistant Paul Westphal elected to walk away. Good on him.) The roster’s been decimated by age and exits, and there’s nothing in the cupboard for a quick rebound. (To wit: the bad Nets have one first-round pick in the next three years. The also-bad Sixers have seven.) NetsDaily also has a smart piece on the team’s management issues, which go beyond King.

Here’s Harvey Araton on the state of the Nets. Harvey’s always a good read on the bumbling New York franchises, when one (or both) is bumbling.

STANDINGS CHECK: We’re getting some separation in the East: the No. 2 Bulls lead the No. 9 Celtics by four games. Only three teams (Bucks, Nets and Sixers) are really out of the running. The Cavs are up four games on Chicago for No. 1.

In the West, the Warriors (35-2) are on pace for ... 77 wins. The Spurs, 3.5 games back, are on pace for 69. Yet, the team with the NBA’s longest win streak is your L.A. Clippers (nine straight, three-game cushion in No. 4 and one game behind OKC for No. 3). The Jazz (17-20) have a two-game lead on the Kings for No. 8.

MORE LIKE THE LOSSTON CELTICS, RIGHT? The Celtics went up by 21 but still lost to the Grizzlies. Boston has lost five out its last six games. The Grizzlies sealed the win with a triple-swat on Marcus Smart.

IT WAS DESTINED: Kristaps Porzingis meets Crying Knicks Draft Kid, who is now Smiling Knicks Kid.

OH DEAR: Jeremy Lin went up to Cole Aldrich with the crossover like Dateline’s Chris Hansen and was like, “Have a seat.”

BWAHAHA: Kevin Love is never in the Cavs’ postgame #squad photos, so he’s taking things into his own hands.

DAMIAN ILL-ARD: Five threes in two minutes for Damian Lillard as the Blazers upset the Thunder.

ENJOY: Here is every LeBron hater’s favorite new GIF. It features King James getting nailed in the face by an errant pass in warmups.

CURRY ON CURRY VIOLENCE: Steph put Seth in the corner with this one.

STUNT! Jared Dudley lost Aaron Gordon on a cut, so Aaron Gordon hit him with that NBA Jam-style double-clutch reverse jam.

DEMAR CLAIMS ANOTHER: DeRozan hammered on Jahlil Okafor this time.

[SPIT TAKE]: Woj reports that John Calipari’s NBA asking price for the Nets or Kings: $120 million over 10 years.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF BORIS DIAW WORKING OUT IN FRONT OF A PAINTING MADE OF A PICTURE OF BORIS DIAW HOLDING UP A GLASS OF WINE.

IF CTE DOESN’T DO IT: Will NBA Twitter help make basketball America’s next favorite game?