Berth control
Nets routed, but own playoff destiny
MILWAUKEE — As Brooklyn’s blowout defeat was reaching its conclusion and Jason Kidd was getting ready to celebrate a big moment as Milwaukee’s coach, a pocket of fans in Bradley Center directed a chant at the Nets bench.
“Thanks for Jason,” they repeated.
It exacerbated disappointment to lose such a big game as Sunday’s — 96-73 to the Bucks — with Kidd's defensive schemes owning the afternoon. The Nets (37-43) could’ve clinched a playoff spot, but instead the Bucks (40-40) locked up the sixth seed and Kidd became the first NBA coach to guide two different teams into the playoffs in his first two seasons.
This berth, unlike Brooklyn’s last year, was unexpected when the season started.
“Hopefully the playoffs become the norm around here,” said Kidd, bolstering his Coach of the Year candidacy at the expense of the team he left behind in the summer.
Just two days after putting on an offensive show at home against the Wizards, the bipolar Nets went ice cold in Milwaukee while shooting a season-low 32.5%. Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Thaddeus Young all misfired as Kidd neutralized Brook Lopez by packing the paint and trapping on pick-and-rolls.
“We thought Brook has been their engine,” Kidd said when asked about the strategy. “When he’s going and playing at a very high level, we go.”
“We just really couldn’t find an answer for it,” said Williams, who missed 10 of his 11 shots, going 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Johnson, who shot 3-for-9, provided a more blunt assessment.
“We didn’t make shots so we looked like garbage, that’s how it was,” he said.
Now six games under .500, the Nets somehow still control their own destiny with two games remaining (Monday vs. the Bulls and Wednesday vs. the Magic). The Pacers, winners of five straight after Sunday’s victory over the Thunder, are tied record-wise with the Nets but lose the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The seventh seed — once a strong possibility — would now be out of reach with either the next Celtics victory or Nets defeat. In other words, it’s shaping up to be an allor-nothing race with the Pacers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The reward is a first-round match up with the Hawks.
Coach Lionel Hollins, trying to avoid the disaster of missing the playoffs with the most expensive roster in the NBA, settled on brevity when asked, “How big are these final two games?”
“Hmm, about 6-foot-5,” he said. “I don’t know. We’re in the same boat. We still have to win. Until the season is over, we have to win.”
The Nets weren’t mathematically eliminated from the sixth seed (and the potential for a desirable first round versus Toronto) until they were pummeled Sunday by the Bucks, who won just 15 games last season before Kidd took the job.
Ersan Ilyasova scored a game-high 21 points for Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 13 points with nine rebounds and seven assists. Brooklyn’s starters combined to shoot 13-for-49.
“It gets very frustrating when you’re getting open looks and they’re just not going down,” Young said. “It’s like there’s a lid on the basket.”