Posts tagged ‘playoffs’

Only 5 games remain until the countdown until the Nets first lottery appearance since 2001, barring a miracle, yet each of the next two games have major Eastern Conference playoff implications. Tonight the Nets travel to Cleveland to play a slumping Cavs team still fighting for home-court advantage in the first round. Friday night New Jersey heads north of the border for another matchup against Toronto, now below .500 thanks to a 4-11 stretch that’s dropped the Raptors to the seventh seed.

Teams entering the postseason have three items on the wish list: health, home court, and peak at the right time. Cleveland currently has none of the three, losing its stranglehold on the 4-seed with losses in five of seven, putting home court at risk, and worst of all, a bad back hobbles Lebron James. Try telling Coach Mike Brown tonight’s game with New Jersey means nothing. If the Nets need extra incentive to play spoiler, Coach Frank’s squad can sweep the Cavs for the season since 1982-83, and only the second time since the merger.

Toronto faces a host of problems. Chris Bosh returned from injury to a team that fell apart without him, 2-8 during his absence, and he let them know about it by criticizing the team. Even with Bosh, the Raptors continue to struggle, falling behind both Washington and Philadelphia in the standings, by one and two games respectively. A first-round matchup with Detroit will almost guarantee a second straight first round exit. Toronto has five games left to turn things around, try to grab a better seed, and buy themselves a fighting chance in the first round. Vince Carter never needs an extra reason to play hard against the Raptors, but if he did, quieting the rabid Canadian fans while extinguishing any hopes for the fifth or sixth seed will help.

While the Nets countdown to the draft lottery, they still have a chance to leave their fingerprints on the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs before hitting the links.

Richard Jefferson went as far to say the Knicks win does not even count as a road win. At least RJ has a grasp on reality. Besides Monday’s 106-91 win at the Garden, the Nets have not won a road game since February 8^th, and hold a 3-18 record away from home since January 8^th, and those three wins – Miami, Charlotte, New York – are nothing to write home about.

Since Devin Harris debuted against Milwaukee, the Nets have been an offensive juggernaut at home, eclipsing 100 points and 50% shooting in 6 of the 7 home games, posting a 5-2 record. With Harris leading the way, the entire team, particularly Vince Carter, have elevated their games. The Nets play with confidence at home, even appear to have fun at times – a shock if you saw them earlier in the year.

However, New Jersey has failed to pack up the newly found offense for the road trips. They play like two completely different teams at home and on the road, and it starts with the offense, notably ball movement. When adversity hits, a few missed shots or a run by the opponent, the Nets forget how to run offensive sets, stop passing, and transition goes by the waste side. Lack of ball movement leads to tougher, lower percentage shots, combined with less fast break points, and it’s no surprise the Nets have not shot over 50% during this treacherous road skid and only cracked 100 points once – ironically, in their visit to Indiana.

Offensively, the recipe is simple for the Nets, do as you do at the Izod Center. Push tempo, play aggressive and drive to the basket, make the extra pass, look for high percentage shots.

Jermaine O’Neal expects to return to the Indiana lineup tonight, giving the Pacers another weapon to throw at the Nets. In the three match-ups this season, Mike Dunleavy has torched the Nets, averaging 28.7 ppg, while Indiana has feasted from behind the arc, burying 40% on 33-81 shooting. O’Neal brings another inside presence for the Nets to worry about, along side second leading scorer Danny Granger and big man Troy Murphy, who also sat out Wednesday. Knowing Indiana’s 3-point shooting prowess, Coach Frank must make sure his defenders don’t get caught trying to double team the post and leave shooters open, especially Dunleavy. Though the Nets 3-point defense has improved recently, which may have more to do with the opponents than the defense, they allow about 1.5 more three pointers per game in losses. Too often this season, they have left good shooters open, and paid the price. It’s no secret Dunleavy can score, the Nets can’t allow another 30-point outburst.

After tonight the Nets embark on a treacherous six-game stretch against playoff teams, magnifying the importance of this game. When the Pacers make a run – and its inevitable, basketball is a game of runs – will the Nets counterpunch, or fall back to the bad habits they’ve exhibited on the road?

Desperate for a win, who better to play than the New York Knicks, the laughingstock that Isiah built. In recent years that meant an automatic win for the Nets, sporting an impeccable record during the Jason Kidd era, then that nasty migraine hit in December. This season, the Knicks have given the Nets headaches, sweeping the three meetings thus far. Monday night the Knicks look to sweep the season series for the first time since the strike shortened 1998-99 season, and the first four-game set since 1994-95.

Back to back weekend losses combined with Indiana and Atlanta win streaks leave the Nets tied with the Pacers, 1 ½ games behind the Hawks, in the race for eighth in the East, and a date with the Celtics in the playoffs. Following the Knicks, New Jersey has a home and away with Indiana to end a critical seven game stretch against lesser opponents before navigating the playoff heavyweights. So far, not so good - dropping three of four last week leave the Nets in a precarious position. Given the lighter schedule facing Atlanta and Indiana, a poor performance in the next three games could end the Nets chances.

Outside of Miami, who barely fields a team these days, the Knicks are the worst team in the NBA at this point in the season. Entering action tonight at 19-50, riding a four game losing streak, the last two against Minnesota and Memphis, teams with a combined 36-102 record, by double-digits. Toss in the daily Isiah Thomas-James Dolan soap opera, open rumors about possible replacements, and half the team on the bench with injuries, New York has lost 11 of its last 12, only beating the aforementioned Heat in that span – and barely at that. The Knicks are an utter disaster.

With only four wins away from home in the new year, the Nets need to take advantage of this cupcake to get their feet back under them away from Izod heading down the home stretch. Unfortunately the Knicks depleted active roster still includes Jamaal Crawford and Zach Randolph, two guys that tortured the Nets in the losses earlier this season. Surrounded with the likes of Randolph Morris, Fred Jones, Wilson Chandler, Malik Rose, and Reynaldo Balkman, coach Lawrence Frank must force anyone but Crawford and Randolph beat them. Saturday in Philadelphia, the Nets defense showed improvement, holding Philly to a sub-40% shooting night and 91 points, the lowest total in the past six games. Now they need the offense to get back on track quick. Consistency has eluded New Jersey all season. If they intend to turn the ship around, the Nets need a complete effort on both ends of the floor for the entire four quarters, night in and night out. Call it judgment week, call it must win, call it what you want, the Nets have no excuses for losing to this Knicks team tonight.

Two critical wins against playoff caliber teams prove the Nets are capable of great things, however now is not the time to rest on those laurels. Tuesday starts of four games in five nights, 25% of the 16 remaining games, including the next two against the teams battling New Jersey for the final Eastern playoff spot.

Following Monday’s action, the Nets head to Chicago in 9^th place, two games ahead of the Bulls and ½ game behind Wednesday’s opponent, Atlanta. The next seven games, particularly these two, may well determine the Nets playoff fate. Six of seven against sub-.500 teams, five against teams outside the playoff picture, and five against the group battling for the final two playoff spots, if we stretch to include streaking Philly in that group. Besides taking advantage of the last weak portion of the remaining schedule, these head-to-head match-ups may have tiebreaker implications.

To earn a playoff berth, New Jersey needs to win some road games. The Nets dropped seven straight away from the Izod Center since the Kidd trade, and are 2-16 dating back to mid-January. Tomorrow is the perfect chance to get on track, against a Bulls team playing back to back nights after blowing a double-digit second half lead in New Orleans on Monday, and that the Nets beat twice already this season. Opening night seems like an eternity, two teams with high hopes battling into overtime. Looking back, that game was more April Fools for both teams, than it was Halloween.

Offense, Offense, Offense. Coach Frank raved about the improved passing the past two games, as Devin Harris finally took control of the offense, pushing the tempo whenever possible, setting up his teammates with open looks, and taking better shots himself. The Nets shot over 50% from the field two straight games for the first time this season, and they attacked the rim, scoring 48 and 62 points in the paint in the respective contest along with a season-high 50 free throws on Saturday. It adds up to two 100+ point games, a key barometer for success this season with a 17-7 record when they crack the century mark.

Two players to keep an eye on are Vince Carter and Boki Nochbar. Carter is the lone Net regular to struggle offensively the past two games. Despite the point total, VC has shot often, and shot the ball poorly. Though he did play aggressive Saturday getting to the line 14 times, a knock on him most of the season, Carter needs to become more selective when he’s misfiring and look to pass.

Meanwhile, Boki needs to get involved earlier. He provided the spark the Nets needed off the bench in the 4^th on Saturday, following up a solid 21-point effort against Cleveland. Similar to the Nets, Boki’s capable of great things, but consistency continues to allude him. With a contract on the line, and nobody else on the Nets bench stepping up, Boki can really give the Nets a lift with 15 points a night, and earn a few dollars in the process.