NETS SHOOT FOR BULLS-EYE
Brooklyn to open playoffs against Chicago
FOR A TEAM that finished the regular season on a high note and finally learned the identity of its first-round playoff opponent, the Nets didn’t look happy after their 103-99 victory over the Pistons Wednesday night in their regular-season finale.
Rather than finding relief in the end of the season, the players’ faces reflected concern over their next challenge. The Nets have not come this far to stop here.
They know their first-round playoff opponent, the fifth-seeded Bulls, won three of four against the them this season, sometimes in humbling fashion.
The Nets didn’t learn they will face the Bulls until the end of their victory Wednesday. Only when the Knicks beat the Hawks at the Garden in a game being played simultaneously was the fifth seed solidified. The Nets (49-33) will host the Bulls (45-37) on Saturday in the first NBA playoff game in Brooklyn history, at a time yet to be determined as of Wednesday night. Rather than celebrate the end of a successful first season in the borough, the Nets must now quickly plan to face a team whose rough-and-tumble style has at times befuddled them this season. Point guard Deron Williams seemed to sum up the mood in the locker room when he said “We have our work cut out for us” in facing Chicago. The Bulls have broken two huge winning streaks this season, first snapping the Heat’s run of 27 straight and then stopping the Knicks’ 13-gamer. Chicago managed this without starting point guard and former MVP Derrick Rose, who has missed the entire season following knee surgery but hasn’t been ruled out for the playoffs. The Nets, meanwhile, enter the playoffs with plenty of confidence, having won six of seven games with Williams playing at an All-Star level and the team finally healthy.
“They’re a hard-nosed team, a bluecollar team, hard-working and a great defensive team, so we have to be on our P’s and Q’s and be hitting on all cylinders,” said shooting guard Joe Johnson, who finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting in barely 21 minutes and will avoid seeing the Hawks, his former team, in the first round. “In the playoffs you can’t take a possession off.” The Nets already had secured the No. 4 seed and homecourt advantage for the first round entering Wednesday’s game. The only suspense involved the identity of their first-round opponent. The Bulls and Hawks entered Wednesday with identical 44-37 records and claims to the fifth seed. If the Bulls and Hawks still had identical records when the night was over, Chicago would have beaten out Atlanta for the fifth seed by virtue of having won two of three in the season series. As it was, the Knicks beat the Hawks, 98-92, and the Bulls held off the lowly Wizards, 95-92.
While the Nets said they didn’t care whom they faced in the first round, it’s clear the team that has given them the most fits is the Bulls, who out-toughed the Nets, 92-90, in a playoff-like game on April 4 in which center Brook Lopez had a dreadful final minute, missing two makeable shots and turning the ball over. Now Lopez, who finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in just under 21 minutes on Wednesday, has a chance to redeem himself.
“It’s going to be a good one,” Lopez said of the matchup with the Bulls. “I think that despite the record, we’ve matched up well against (the Bulls) all year. We’ve been right there and had opportunities. I think it could easily be 3-1 the other way. It’s going to be physical, but I think we’re ready for it.”
Mabramson@nydailynews.com