After getting trounced by the Chicago Bulls in Brooklyn this past Sunday, the Nets were sitting at 6-9 and had lost seven of their last nine games. Things were not looking good for a team that got off to a 10-21 start last season and needed a rapid turnaround in the beginning of 2014 to right the ship.
In that game against the Bulls, the Nets made less than 38 percent of their shots, went just 2-of-14 from three-point range and were outrebounded by 16. They never really had a legitimate shot to come close to beating Chicago, which has had the Nets’ number since they moved to Brooklyn.
A loss like that one could seriously derail a team, sending it into a brutal spiral it may not bounce back from. Then, two days later, the Nets went to MSG to take on their cross-city rival in the New York Knicks. The Knicks, having a dreadful season of their own, usually present a challenge for the Nets because these rivalry matchups have been pretty balanced over the past few years.
Thanks to 64 points from Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez, Brooklyn was able to hold off a late rally from New York en route to a big win. Some big threes from Jose Calderon made the game close but the Nets, finally, closed out a game successfully.
Would the Nets get a little respite after their win? Nope. The very next day, they headed back home to face the defending champion San Antonio Spurs at Barclays. Brooklyn had the cards stacked against them, as the second game of a back-to-back is hard to win and beating the Spurs is even harder.
Even though they had almost every reason to throw in the towel and mail this game in, the Nets did exactly the opposite. For three and a half quarters, they dominated one of the NBA’s best teams, even leading by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter. If you told me that before the game, I would be flabbergasted. Downright stunned.
But, this is the Nets, so they had to make it interesting. Blowing said lead in just a few minutes, Brooklyn allowed the Spurs to take this game into overtime on a Danny Green three. The Nets would control the extra frame and eventually take home the win. Pretty great two days.
The last two seasons, the Nets have faced severe adversity in the first few months of the season and have needed a big win to get back on track. The last two seasons, that win has come on January 2nd in Oklahoma City against the Thunder. In the 2012-13 season, it launched the Nets on a seven-game winning streak. In the 2013-14 season, it launched them on a five-game winning streak.
Maybe beating the Spurs–right after the Knicks–is the spark this team needs to return to being the playoff contender it was the last two years. The talent is there, the coaching is there and the chemistry is there. They just need to put it all together and get some wins on the court.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
