NO DISNEY FAIRY TALE
When season resumes in Orlando, Nets will have to fight for their playoff lives
The Nets are not safe. At least not yet. What else is new?
In the NBA’s proposed and soon-to-be approved plan to resume the season on July 31, there could potentially be a play-in tournament to determine the eighth and final seed of the playoffs for each confer- ence. The Nets could find themselves fighting for their playoff lives if they don’t handle business early.
Twenty-two teams will play eight regular season games. If at the end of those eight games, the No. 9 seed is four or fewer games below the eighth seed, the two teams will compete in a playin tournament that is singleelimination for the contender and double-elimination for No. 8.
As it stands, the Nets sit seventh in the Eastern Conference standings, but they have just a half-game advantage over the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic. The Washington Wizards are currently the ninth seed but are 5.5 games behind the Magic, meaning they would hypothetically need to go 5-3 while the Magic go 3-5 to fight their way into the bubble.
Or go 6-2 while the Nets go 2-6. Strength of schedule will be a key factor for every team.
For Brooklyn, the magic number is five in Orlando. It doesn’t matter if the Wizards win all eight of their games; if the Nets win five, they will stay more than four games
ahead of Washington. If they go 4-4, however, they could leave themselves exposed should Bradley Beal catch fire once again and take the Wizards on an eight-game streak.
The Nets entered the coronavirus hiatus on a high, beating the Los Angeles Lakers on a game-winning shot by Spencer Dinwiddie the day before the NBA suspended its season due to COVID-19. But the fact still remains: This is a team with an interim head coach in Jacque Vaughn replacing Kenny Atkinson, with star players who have been injured, and supporting players who never found their stride alongside Kyrie Irving and struggled to stay afloat without him.
This is familiar territory, though, for a team that’s clawed to stay in the playoff picture despite players shuffling in and out of the rotation due to injury all season.
The Nets are one of the most polarizing teams in the NBA: They could be a surefire first-round exit, or a dark horse championship contender. This is a team that has yet to scratch the surface of its potential: Irving has only played 20 games this season, Kevin Durant none at all recovering from his Achilles surgery.
Irving underwent successful surgery on his right shoulder on March 3. An arthroscopic surgeon told the News that four months is the minimum length of time recommended for athletes recovering from said surgery. July 31 would mark closer to five months.
June 4 will also mark one year since Durant’s ruptured Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals. The Achilles rehab timetable is 9-to-12 months.