REMEDIAL ED
All-Star Weekend was like a dream for the Nets — who were represented by an Eastern Conference-high four players. But now they have to get back to business, starting with Thursday’s game against the Trail Blazers. And their veterans have to make sure that happens.
“After that, now it’s back to reality,” coach Kenny Atkinson said after what he deemed a second straight strong practice.
Ed Davis, who was allowed to walk by Portland after last year’s playoff ouster, has been vocal in calling the game against his old team a must-win. Sure, that’s partly revenge on his part, but it’s also largely to ensure his younger teammates don’t come out of the break flat and squander a playoff opportunity Davis admitted he didn’t expect to have.
“When I signed here in July, I didn’t think this was a playoff team, honestly,” Davis said of the Nets, who sit in the sixth playoff spot in the East as the league gets back to action following the AllStar break. “But when I got here and started to see players and how good guys were — and see Coach, his philosophies and his schemes — my mindset changed.”
Now that it has, Davis plans to help keep his teammates mentally sharp going into their game Thursday at Barclays Center and Saturday’s match in Charlotte.
“Before the break we knew what we had on the table when we got back, so a lot of us were focused on unfinished business and closing out the regular season strong, and making this push for the playoffs,” Davis said.
“For sure there’s urgency. We had a bigger gap [ahead of ] the ninth and 10th seeds. They closed that distance. The 9, 10, 11 maybe even 12 seed still think they can make the playoffs. But luckily we’re in a position where we control our own destiny.”
Before a 3-6 skid heading into the break, the Nets had just a sin- gle pursuer within 2 ½ games and a five-game cushion on the Wizards, who were the No. 10 seed at the time. But the race has tightened, now three teams are within 2 ½ games and the edge on the current No. 10 Magic has shrunk to just three.
“For sure [we have to] get better,” said Jared Dudley, who will make his return from hamstring woes. “This is when teams start picking it up. Half the league starts picking it up, the other half starts tanking. For us, most of the games we’re playing are teams that are fighting for stuff.
“That Charlotte game is worth two games when you play them if someone’s behind you. Detroit, Miami, all those games are coming up. … But we have to make our push before we go on that long road trip. So this is a crucial month for us.”
That long seven-game trek March 13-28 is one in which every foe but one is currently in a playoff spot. But the Nets can make a push in the preceding 10-game span with half of those tilts against foes currently sitting between seventh and 11th in the conference: No. 7 Charlotte (twice), No. 8 Detroit, No. 9 Miami and No. 11 Washington.
Dudley, at 33 the oldest player on the Nets’ roster, will drive home the importance of not only every win but every play. He’ll underscore the importance of fear.
“For sure I’ll say it. … When you play a Miami, Detroit, Orlando, those games count as two. … Those games will be even more. And I’ll let them know each possession matters,” Dudley said. “I don’t think they realize it because they haven’t been in that position. I don’t think they really understand it takes up another notch. Most of these teams and star players take it up a notch when it comes to seeding and gaining your rhythm at the right time.
“So for us it’s going to be every possession. When you play those teams that you’re fighting for the playoffs you’ll see the added pressure, see the added tension in the games. And for us that’s good. … Hey, as good as the season is, it can end on a high note or it can end on a low note. That’s why it’s good to have that fear factor, good to have that pressure to see where guys come out at.”