The Nets charged into the All-Star break as winners of six of their last seven games. Who would’ve seen that coming after they posted a 3-12 record in January?
“I think it’s been the consistency of working every day,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “Because if you think about that stretch, whether we had guys out or not, we also lost close games, and we pretty much competed in [a lot of them].”
December trades of Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith crippled the team’s production at both ends of the court. Cam Thomas, Brooklyn’s leading scorer, hasn’t appeared in a game since Jan.2. Cam Johnson missed 13 of 16 games from Jan. 4-Feb. 4 as well.
Yet here the Nets are at 20-34, just 1 1/2 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the final Play-In Tournament spot in the Eastern Conference. So much for the tank. They are now tied with the Philadelphia 76ers for the sixth-best lottery odds, which means they have a 34.8% chance at a Top 4 pick and an 8.3% chance at landing the No. 1 overall pick in June.
Brooklyn is one of the NBA’s hottest teams in the NBA with 28 games left. And it should only get stronger after the All-Star break, when Cam Thomas and Noah Clowney are expected to return.
“We have to come back and work and get better,” Fernandez said. “I think the days off are good. They have to do their jobs. They have a plan, because physically you cannot go without doing anything. So, everybody has a program they’ll follow and that’s going to be very important and that’s how we want to build moving forward.”
Fernandez has always been a defensive-minded coach, and it seems his team has finally bought into his philosophies at that end of the court. The Nets have held six of their last seven opponents under 100 points, including each of the last three. They did that just four times in their first 47 outings.
In Wednesday’s 100-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at Barclays Center, the Nets recorded a season-high 13 steals, and starting center Nic Claxton swatted five shots, his second most blocks in a game this season. Their pick-and-roll defense has been among the most aggressive in the NBA, and according to the Efficiency Landscape, they’ve boasted the No. 1 defense in the league over the past 10 games.
D’Angelo Russell called Fernandez a “genius” for bringing this kind of defensive effort out of Brooklyn’s roster.
“Watching him prepare for these games, not knowing who’s going to play, not knowing who’s going to start, or who can finish, who can’t play, minute restrictions, et cetera,” Russell said. “For him to still find a way to get straight wins and keep everybody’s energy and spirit high. I think the future’s bright here.”