EDITOR’S NOTE: Changing up the format of the preview today; if you like/dislike it, let me know on Twitter or email (or if you just want to vent about the Nets having just 19 wins).
When: March 22, 2016; 7:30 PM EST
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is back! The Nets rookie has been out since December 4th with a fractured right ankle. There was talk his season might be over but, yesterday, the team listed him as probable for tonight’s game and it looks like he’s going to play.
- Charlotte is coming off one of the more impressive wins a team has this season as the Hornets came back from a 28-7 first quarter deficit to beat the Spurs on Monday. The Hornets (27-11 at home, one of the league’s best marks) outscored San Antonio 55-37 in the second half to shock Gregg Popovich’s team, which beat the Warriors 87-79 on Saturday night.
- Steve Clifford’s team has lost just two games in the month of March (10-2) and is comfortably slotted in as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. But, Charlotte is just a half-game behind the No. 3-5 seeds (Miami, Atlanta, Boston) and is trending upward.
- One of the biggest surprises for the Hornets lately has been Jeremy Lin, who signed with Charlotte for two years and $4.3 million this summer. The former Knick has been a valuable bench scorer for Steve Clifford behind The Bronx native Kemba Walker and scored 29 points against the Spurs in the surprising win. The Hornets have six players currently averaging double digits (included the injured Michael Kidd-Gilchrist), including Lin.
- The Nets, on the other hand, have just two wins in March and have lost their last two games, to the Bulls and Pistons. Defense has been a big issue for Brooklyn, as Tony Brown’s team has given up 100 or more in nine of its last 10 games. The return of Hollis-Jefferson should help on that side of the ball but when you’re regularly trotting out the young and inexperienced lineup the Nets have done, those high point totals aren’t too surprising.
- Brooklyn’s current roster for the rest of the season (by position): Donald Sloan, Shane Larkin, Sean Kilpatrick, Sergey Karasev, Wayne Ellington, Markel Brown, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young, Chris McCullough, Thomas Robinson, Henry Sims, Willie Reed and Brook Lopez. The oldest of that bunch is Ellington, who is just 28 years of age. That’s a very young group of guys which has a lot of upside and provides the Nets with plenty of salary cap flexibility for the seasons to come. It also shows just how important the rest of the 2015-16 campaign is in terms of talent evaluation for Brooklyn’s new front office of this roster. The postseason may be out of the question, but with a vital offseason ahead, the decision-making process on who to keep and who to let go starts now.
Probable lineups
CHA- Kemba Walker (PG), Courtney Lee (SG), Nicholas Batum (SF), Marvin Williams (PF), Cody Zeller (C)
BKN- Donald Sloan (PG), Wayne Ellington (SG), Bojan Bogdanovic (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
Final thoughts
Charlotte has won the first two matchups with the Nets this season by just a total of 13 points, so it’s not like the games between these two teams haven’t been close. But, the Hornets’ athleticism and depth pose problems for the young Nets, who have had problems sticking with shooters like Batum and Williams in the past. Add former Net Courtney Lee and Walker into the mix, and Brooklyn could have some problems sticking in front of Charlotte’s perimeter players.
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