Table of Content
The Lakers’ last two buckets were uncontested dunks at the rim . The Wizards did break their losing streak against the stumbling Suns on Tuesday, but still have six of their next eight games on the road. They have lost six straight and 9-of-11 and a lot of it just comes back to shooting. How a team with Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, and Gary Trent Jr. is shooting 32.4% on the season — the second-worst percentage in the NBA — is one of the hardest things to explain about this season.
As the Nets have stacked up wins, there have been discussions about them not beating the very best teams. There may be something to that, but not that much. You can only play who’s in front of you, and the Nets have been handling business like they’re supposed to. The next few games against the Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, and Cleveland Cavaliers will be a great test of their recent improvements, and a good showing will give the fans even more optimism as we head in to 2023.
Injury Update: Kyrie Irving Suddenly OUT for Nets vs. Warriors
Typed comments will be lost if you are not signed in. The Nets have 11 back-to-backs this year. The first one takes place at the start of November when the Houston Rockets visit on the first of the month, then Brooklyn visits Little Caesars Arena to play the Detroit Pistons on November 2. The Nets have three back-to-backs in January and March. The Nets will not be featured on the Christmas Day slate of games, though the Knicks will come to visit on December 26.
Minnesota would like to get Karl-Anthony Towns back as its Christmas present, but the team is now 6-4 with a +1.4 net rating since he went out. They’ve picked up a couple of wins this past week without KAT or Rudy Gobert, but the real question is what happens when both of them are back? Minnesota has just not looked comfortable with them playing in a two-big lineup, but the front office has gone all-in on that so it will be up to Chris Finch and the players to find a way to make it work. What the Heat need for Christmas is some depth, ideally a playmaker at the four but they will take either part of that equation at this point.
Try to extend season-high streak against defending champs
He’s one of the big red flags in what’s so far been an underwhelming 2020 Draft class. His future will determine a lot of what the Warriors try to do going forward. The Brooklyn Nets finished the regular season with a point differential of -41.
Miami is home this week and needs to rack up some wins because a tough West Coast road trip follows. They will need to find that touch in the big Christmas Day showdown against the Bucks — Milwaukee is contesting better at the arc this season and that shooting is one of the big advantages for the Celtics in that matchup. The Celtics will also need the best of Williams on Christmas Day to match up with Brook Lopez, who has played well on both ends of the court recently.
American League
As noted before, teams in the western conference are projected to have tougher schedules. Although Brooklyn ranked 25th overall, they ranked 10th among the 15 Eastern Conference teams. Although this is still slightly favorable, it’s unlikely to swing things in the East. For reference, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns are tied with the toughest schedules (.519 winning percentage, 42.56-win equivalent). The Milwaukee Bucks have the easiest (.490 winning percentage, 40.18-win equivalent). Whether or not an opponent is played at home or on the road definitely impacts the difficulty of a team’s schedule and this could increase strength of schedule disparities a bit.
But that’s just part of a 12-game run through Jan. 31 in which two of the Nets’ three road games will be as close as can be — one at the Knicks and one down the road in Philadelphia. The only time they’ll need clearance to take off will be to visit the Pistons on Jan. 25. The month of January will feature a season-high 10 home contests.
Nets findings
Over his last 11 games, he’s been in a groove that rivals some of his best work, averaging 32 points on 63% shooting, 43% from 3-point range and adding 6.5 rebounds and five assists per game. But Irving has been efficient since returning from his suspension following the promotion of an antisemitic film and subsequent comments, and Durant has been playing at an MVP-level all season. The preseason schedule was announced on July 10, 2019.
On September 10, the Nets announced a venue change from Nassau Coliseum to Barclays Center for the October 18 game against the Toronto Raptors. The Nets made the playoffs for a second consecutive season and faced the Toronto Raptors in the First Round, where they were swept in four games. Brooklyn Nets games will be broadcast regionally on the YES Network for the 18th consecutive season and on WFAN for the 16th consecutive season. The Nets will be featured on national television 20 times this season, with six games on ESPN, six contests on TNT and eight games on NBA TV. After hosting Golden State, the Nets will welcome Milwaukee to Brooklyn on Friday night. Irving hit 13-of-23 shots against the Pistons, marking the fourth time in the last five games he has broken the 30-point barrier.
It’s a hot streak based around the play of young stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. What they want — no, what they need for Christmas is Lonzo Ball back to be a floor general and defender, but it appears we may not see him this season following knee surgery. Which just adds to the woes in Chicago. The Bulls have dropped 7-of-10, have fallen out of even the play-in in the West, and had a locker room blow up at halftime of the loss to the Timberwolves where they went on to give up 150 points and lose.
They lost in the Eastern Conference First Round against the Toronto Raptors, 4 games to 0. Brooklyn will have six games televised on ESPN and another six will be on TNT. The Nets will also have eight games broadcast on NBA TV. Build your custom FanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis on Brooklyn Nets and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more.
It’s the season of giving, and our friends at the New York Liberty are doing their part. On Monday, the team launched their Season of Giving campaign as they provided gifts to community organizations across the city. The Warriors are attempting to pull off a neat magic trick. They are simultaneously looking to win now while also building for the future. It’s been working, but there’s one big question about their future.
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