It’s no secret that the Nets have been a severely inconsistent team this season and have, specifically, been pretty awful at home. Brooklyn is 11-19 at the Barclays Center compared to an admittedly also-poor 15-19 record on the road. With the Nets sitting at 26-38 overall in the 11th spot in the East–just outside of the playoffs–what exactly does this mean?
Firstly, out of the Nets’ remaining 18 regular season games, 11 will be in Brooklyn and seven will not. If Brooklyn can figure out its home troubles, they still somehow have a legitimate chance at a playoff spot. The Nets are currently 3.5 games behind No. 7 Indiana and three behind No. 8 Charlotte, with No. 9 Miami and No. 10 Boston (BKN is 2.5 games behind both) in the middle and No. 12 Detroit (four games behind BKN) falling away quickly.
Therefore, a little improvement in their play at home could be massive for the Nets, especially considering how seven of their next 10 games are against under-.500 teams. Four of those seven are with teams such as the Pacers (twice), Celtics and Hornets that are directly competing with Brooklyn for postseason positioning. The other three games versus bad games are against the lowly Timberwolves (tonight) and the tanking Knicks and Lakers while the three games against good compeition include two meetings with the Cavaliers and one with the struggling Bucks. Not the worst 10-games stretch.
It does get harder in the final eight games of the season, though, as the Nets only play one sub-.500 team as the regular season comes to close, and that’s the Magic in each team’s finale. However, of those eight, only two–in Atlanta and in Milwaukee–take the Nets onto the road.
Even though Brooklyn has yet to show notable success on its home floor, with 75 percent of its final eight games coming at the Barclays Center against mostly certain playoff teams who might be resting starters, wins here and there could go a long way in the standings. If the Nets should sneak into the field, home momentum for the postseason–combined with already passable road play–is only a good thing.
Too bad the operative word in that sentence is should. With a few-team buffer and three games separating them, the Nets’ playoff destiny can easily be determined by the Pacers or Hornets continuing to play good basketball. There’s a chance Brooklyn goes 12-6 for the rest of the season and it still doesn’t make the postseason. That happens. Their job is just to limit that possibility as much as possible.
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