The one thing the Brooklyn Nets need right now is a healthy roster
Brooklyn Nets' Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant watch teammates play against the Boston Celtics on Feb. 24, 2022, at Barclays Center. Credit: AP/Noah K. Murray
The Nets have been a terrible basketball team lately. The Nets remain among the handful of favorites to win the NBA championship, according to major sports books.
That disconnect illustrates what has been one of the strangest seasons in recent NBA history, one now entering its stretch run with more strangeness and uncertainty ahead.
It starts against the defending champion Bucks on Saturday night, a game that will feature Kyrie Irving in the Nets lineup but that probably will not include the injured Kevin Durant and surely will not include recently acquired Ben Simmons.
This is problematic for a team that has lost 13 of its last 15 and on Friday morning found itself in eighth place in the Eastern Conference at 31-29, 3 ½ games behind the Celtics for the last non-play-in-tournament playoff spot.
After getting run out of the gym by the Celtics at Barclays Center, 129-106, on Thursday, the Nets who spoke to reporters did not mince words about what the team needs: better health, which will yield more talent.
When coach Steve Nash was asked what the Nets need to do other than get healthier, he said, "That’s it. That’s No. 1, 2 and 3 and 4, really . . . You flip it, take the Celtics and take four of their starters out, it’s a different look."
Said Seth Curry, "It’s the NBA. You have to have talent to give yourself a chance every night. Sometimes we’re going to come out and play well, sometimes we’re not with the lineup we have right now."
And this, from Bruce Brown: "I think it is just health. We haven’t played with each other yet. So just getting on the floor with everybody, I think we’ll figure out what we need to do to learn and fix things."
All of that makes sense, but the calendar is not the Nets’ friend. They have 22 games left.
The odds remain in their favor to at least qualify for the play-in tournament, but that is a risky way for a title contender to start the postseason.
For now, all they can do is muddle along and try to steal a game here or there.
Curry said it is not as if he shows up for practice or games stressing over who is or is not available that day. He just tries to do the job. But for now, the Nets are not getting the job done where it counts: on the scoreboard.
"The smart thing to do is take it game by game, but we understand the situation we’re in," Nash said when asked how much the Nets look at the standings. "We know there’s urgency. We know that we’re not going to have half a season to figure this thing out. We’ll be up against the clock.
"Our guys, they’ve been great because there’s a lot of pressure and circumstances that make it difficult as you’re dropping in the standings. But their spirit has been outstanding. So that’s the spirit of taking it day by day, game by game, trying to improve, and at the same time we recognize the situation we’re in."
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.