When: April 3, 2016; 1:00 PM EST
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
- Everyone on the Pelicans is hurt, seemingly. Jrue Holiday (orbital fracture), Anthony Davis (knee and shoulder), Ryan Anderson (hernia), Tyreke Evans (knee), Eric Gordon (finger), Norris Cole (back), Alonzo Gee (quad) and Quincy Pondexter (knee) are all out for the rest of the season due to injury. That’s 8 players in total, including the Pelicans’ five (maybe more) best players. As a result, New Orleans — in Alvin Gentry’s first season with the team — has had to raid the D-League just to fill out its roster, using guys like Jordan Hamilton and Tim Frazier (as well as the injured Bryce Dejean-Jones).
- So it’s odd that, somehow, the Pelicans have won two of their last three games while the Nets have dropped four straight. On Thursday, the Pelicans — behind 22 points from Luke Babbitt and 20 from former Knick Toney Douglas — beat the Nuggets 101-95. Three days prior, they beat the Knicks, whom the Nets fell to on Friday. It was Brooklyn’s fourth consecutive loss, all of which have been by double digits. Turns out that game — which Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic sat out while Brook Lopez played, scoring 16 points — is the last time we’ll see Lopez this season as both he and Young will be shut down for the rest of the year by the Nets.
- This means that guys like Chris McCullough, Thomas Robinson, Willie Reed and Henry Sims will get the lion’s share of minutes in the Nets’ remaining six games. There’s no incentive — positive or negative — for the Nets in any of their upcoming games so it’s a smart decision to rest Brook and Thad, make sure they don’t get hurt and continue to evaluate the frontcourt options they have on the roster.
- However, it won’t make for too watchable an on-court product, especially against the skeleton of what was supposed to be the New Orleans Pelicans. The only real storyline to continue to watch for is whether or not the Nets will beat out the Suns for the 4th-worst record in the league. Of course, this affects just the lottery odds the Celtics will have on Brooklyn’s first rounder for this June’s draft but it’s more enjoyable to have a reason to root for a win than a loss.
Probable lineups
NOP- Toney Douglas (PG), Jordan Hamilton (SG), Luke Babbitt (SF), Dante Cunningham (PF), Omer Asik (C)
BKN- Shane Larkin (PG), Sergey Karasev (SG), Bojan Bogdanovic (SF), Thomas Robinson (PF), Henry Sims (C)
Final thoughts
Donald Sloan is out for today’s game with an upper respiratory infection so Markel Brown will probably be the backup point guard today. He’s a Louisiana native so he’ll surely try to have a big game against the team he grew up rooting for. Also, something to watch is how Thomas Robinson plays, as he’s had a double-double in each of the Nets’ last three games. Sean Marks and Trajan Langdon are definitely watching him closely to determine whether or not to bring T-Rob back next season.
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