Brooklyn Nets: Things Only Get Harder From Here

From the desk of: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

The Brooklyn Nets Will Likely Hit The Road

As The Eastern Conference 5th Seed.

PAUL PIERCE

Became only the 18th player in NBA history

to achieve 25,000 points in a career.

BROOKLYN NETS: The End Of The Road Just Got A Little Bumpy.  Flatbush Has Three Games Left To Smooth Things Out.


Safe to say, that last game against the Orlando Magic exactly mirrored the Nets recent effort against the Knicks.  What does that say?  The Nets suck in back to back games.  We knew that.  They have one more back to back which will conclude their regular season.

But what do we make of the loss to Atlanta?  Both Deron Williams and Shaun Livingston did not play.  They are both dealing with nagging appendage issues to a foot and toe, respectively.

Therefore, considering Jason Kidd teamed Andrei Kirilenko and Jorge Gutierrez, with Kevin Garnett, who is still trying to get his game legs under him, along with regulars Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson, the better question is what should we read into Friday's game?  After all, they were in position to win in the closing minute.  Friday night withstanding, the season long conclusion is that Brooklyn has trouble against young teams that play small no matter who is on the floor.  We knew that too.

At least the Nets bench reaffirmed themselves as one of the league's strongest units, and should factor prominently in the playoffs.

Are the Nets cooling off?  I do not think so.  They are 3-3 in April, but I think consecutive losses to the Magic and Hawks were just coincidental instances of shit happens.

The Nets will get a chance to avenge their 115-111 loss in Orlando on Sunday when they host the Magic at Barclays.  Brooklyn will then host its final regular season game against the New York Knicks on Tuesday, before ending the season in Cleveland on April 16th.

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In Friday's loss to the Hawks, Paul Pierce became only the 18th player in NBA history to achieve 25,000 points in a career.  He is the 4th leading active scorer in the NBA, behind only Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, and his team mate, Kevin Garnett.

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Brooklyn was unable to gain ground on the Toronto Raptors, and therefore will most likely enter the post-season as the Eastern Conference 5th seed.  In failing to catch the Raptors thus far, they also failed to gain a home court advantage, where they have played superior basketball this season. If the current standings hold, Brooklyn and Toronto would face off in the first round.  The two teams split their four game series this season.



Mike.BTB