After a surprising six-game winning streak gave the Nets a little breathing room in their fight for the one of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spots, they fell back to earth pretty harshly last night in Atlanta with a 131-99 drubbing at the hands of the Hawks. Coupled with a Celtics win, Brooklyn’s hold over the No. 7 seed slipped to just a half-game. Tomorrow night at home, the Nets welcome in the Trail Blazers in a game that was postponed a few months ago due to a New York blizzard.
In former Net head coach news, Avery Johnson–who led the Nets from New Jersey into Brooklyn between 2010 and 2012–has been hired as the new coach at the University of Alabama. Johnson, who spent two years in New Jersey–both not including the postseason–and only 28 games in Brooklyn, going 14-14 before getting fired and replaced by P.J. Carlesimo.
Before coming to the New York area, Johnson coached the Dallas Mavericks for four seasons, making the playoffs in all four and losing to the Heat in the Finals in 2006. This came after his 16-year playing career in the NBA, encompassing six different Western Conference teams over 10 different stints. After leaving the Nets, he spent a few years with ESPN as a TV personality for NBA games.
Heading back to issues currently affecting the Nets, Alan Anderson–who missed the Hawks game with an ankle injury–will be out for tomorrow’s game as well. Anderson hurt himself in Friday’s win over the Raptors and is a player the Nets cannot afford to lose for an extended period of time. He’s one of the team’s key bench players who can knock down threes and guard the opponent’s better one-on-one scorers.
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