Despite record, Nets making some progress
When the Nets host the crosstown rival Knicks on Sunday at Barclays Center, it will be the first time the home crowd has seen them since Feb. 15. It has been almost a month, and a pretty busy one.
Brooklyn got a needed reset with the NBA AllStar break, then went out on their final circus trip, an eight-game road trek that makes Homer’s Odyssey seem like a spin around the corner. They traded a starter, kept Brook Lopez, got back Jeremy Lin and are playing better. Not well, mind you, but baby steps for an 11-53 team.
1. Better, if not good enough
The Nets went just 2-6 on the road trip, but clearly have played better since coming back from the break. They lost by five in Atlanta, were within eight late at Golden State and three late in Dallas on Friday.
Brooklyn was just 24th in the league in both shooting percentage and steals, and have been 12th in each since coming back. They were 26th in 3-point shooting, but are 16th since.
“Yeah, the two road wins ... but I just feel like we’re playing better,’’ coach Kenny Atkinson said.
2. Lin is back
Lin’s return is a sobering reminder of how much his absence hamstrung the Nets’ terrible season. They’re 5-12 with him in the lineup, but just 4-41 without him.
“I feel like this team is starting to figure it out,’’ Lin said. “You’re starting to see that whatever we’re preaching is starting to be what it should look like, and we’re seeing tangible evidence.”
Since his return after the break, after missing 26 straight games, Lin is averaging 13.8 points.
3. Brook is back
Or more to the point, Lopez never left. The trade deadline came and went, and despite Lopez’s name being linked with multiple teams, Nets general manager Sean Marks held on to his prized asset.
Lopez is still a Net and still scoring, becoming just the second in team history to top 10,000 points.
4. Bogie and Scola aren’t
The Nets held on to Lopez, but not starter Bojan Bogdanovic and reserve Luis Scola. Bogdanovic was traded for a first-round pick, and Scola waived to make way for progress.
Already platooning Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Trevor Booker at power forward, the Nets needed to find minutes for Marks’ reclamation projects Quincy Acy and Andrew Nicholson, who came over in the Bogdanovic deal. When Lopez missed Friday with a sprained ankle, they used the 6-foot-7 Acy at center. With Atkinson’s love of floor spacing and 3s, get used to seeing smallball.
5. Struggle is real, but ownership is committed
Though ex-GM Billy King kept owner Mikhail Prokhorov in the dark, Marks has kept the Russian billionaire very much in the loop. They have a weekly call according to ESPN, with Prokhorov being both patient and committed to the long-term.
“I try to be zen about it. It’s a process, as they say,’’ Prokhorov wrote. “There is no shortcut to a championship. ... [Winning] requires the patience to build, step by step.”