The Nets‘ present four-game highway journey is a doozy, to say the least.
It started on Friday evening in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Middle — a workforce that entered as a bottom-dweller within the Jap Convention at 2-12. It was enjoying with out its prime two stars in Joel Embiid and Paul George.
Assuming any evening within the NBA might be a straightforward one is a idiot’s fantasy, however the Nets had been the clear favourite. Brooklyn battled via three quarters and had a two-point benefit coming into the fourth. Cam Johnson dropped 37 factors and knocked down a career-high 9 3-pointers. It was not sufficient.
Shorthanded Philadelphia outscored the guests 34-21 within the last body and turned 19 whole Nets turnovers into 28 factors. It’s onerous to win with these sorts of lapses, particularly on the highway. Brooklyn’s 113-98 loss on Friday was a studying lesson. And it’ll not get any simpler from right here.
“I think it’s a mental thing,” Ben Simmons said. “We just have to focus and be consistent with it.”
The Nets left Philadelphia with a 6-10 report. They may face the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, adopted by two extra highway video games in opposition to the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns earlier than returning to Barclays Middle on Friday.
Golden State is at present the No. 1 seed within the Western Convention at 12-4 coming into Sunday’s video games. Phoenix (9-7) and Sacramento (8-8) are squarely within the playoff hunt. All three groups have a mixed win proportion of 60.4.
Brooklyn is 3-1 in opposition to Western Convention groups coming into Sunday’s recreation in Sacramento. It defeated the Memphis Grizzlies twice, beat the New Orleans Pelicans as soon as, and misplaced in additional time in opposition to the Denver Nuggets in late October.
“Yeah, it’s a good test for us,” Cam Thomas mentioned. “We have a few good teams in the West coming up, so really we can measure ourselves, see where we’re at… We want to play the best and I’m sure we’ll be ready for it.”
Guards Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain mixed for 56 factors in opposition to the Nets on Friday and made them pay within the open courtroom every time they turned the ball over, particularly within the fourth quarter. Sacramento, Golden State and Phoenix have high-scoring backcourts as properly that might wreck a recreation if left unchecked.
Brooklyn will face De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan and Keegan Murray on Sunday, Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Buddy Hield on Monday, then Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on Wednesday.
When you flip the ball over too usually in opposition to groups with robust guard play like that, and you might be asking for a protracted evening.
“Yeah, we got some good teams coming up, backcourt and some good teams,” Nic Claxton said. “So, we know we have to be better. And if we don’t lock in, we’re going to get beat by more than what we got beat by [Friday].”
