Atkinson wary of gauntlet on Nets’ schedule

With the NBA All-Star break over, the Nets come out of the layoff Thursday against Portland. And despite exceeding expectations before the break, they’re going to have to tighten up their game to survive the league’s thirdtoughest schedule in the second half.

The Nets are clinging to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. Kenny Atkinson has long been looking warily at a nasty sevengame, 17-day road swing looming next month. Before they get to that, it would behoove them to cash in on playing seven of their next 10 games at Barclays Center.

“Listen, it’s always important to play well at home,” Atkinson said. “You’ve got obviously an advantage when you play at home, so of course that’s important.

“I still want to stick with our philosophy that we’re taking it a game at a time, and really focusing on the next match. But, yes, it’s important we play well at home. … Looking forward to being at home seven out of these [10] games.” They’d better be. After going into the All-Star break having lost six of their past eight, they’ve got one of the NBA’s most grueling slates the rest of the way. Thirteen of their final 23 games are against winning teams, including six of the seven on that marathon road swing.

The Nets still have six games left against the four teams in hot pursuit, all of them within a single game of each other and within three of Brooklyn.

Currently the Nets have a two-game lead on the Hornets, 2 ½ on the Pistons and Heat, and three on the Magic. They play Charlotte twice and Miami and Detroit once each in this current 10-game span, not including 11th-place Washington.

“I’ve been saying … it’s going to be a dogfight,” Atkinson said. “A lot of those teams are playing well. Orlando has really picked it up, Detroit has really picked it, Charlotte has a ton of experience with a veteran group.

“The Nets have to take care of their own business. You look at these games and keep an eye on them, but our sole focus has to be us continuing to play good ball, close out these last games in a positive fashion, and the results will take care of themselves.”

For Atkinson, there are three major keys to closing them out in positive fashion. Despite guarding well of late — eighth-best in Defensive Efficiency since the calendar flipped — the Nets have backslid in defensive rebounding, turned the ball over too much and still need to work on finishing at the rim.

“I’ve seen some slippage in our defensive rebounding,” Atkinson said. “I remember earlier in the season that was a huge problem in closing out games. We’re going to give our guys a heads-up.

“A big one continues to be turnovers. We’re 23rd in the league in turnover percentage; it really puts the brakes on us being a more efficient team, so we have to do a better job there. And we’re top 10 in getting to the rim; we’ve got to do a better job finishing when we get there. Those are big ones.”

Spencer Dinwiddie is still recovering from Jan. 28 thumb surgery. As is the Nets’ custom, Atkinson declined to give a timeline or say if he’s expected back by that March 13 trip — which would be six weeks — but said he’s working out on the court and dribbling with his off-hand.

Atkinson also wouldn’t say whether Caris LeVert — who has played three games since his return — is off his minutes limit. But he did offer: “[He’s] looked really good from a physical standpoint, still catching his rhythm from a technical standpoint. But the more minutes we can get him, the more rhythm he can get and we can get him up to full speed as soon as possible.”