Table of Content
He looked rusty and now his minutes and movement are limited, but his shooting and ball movement will give Mike Budenholzer more options during the playoffs. That will change on Christmas, expect a heavy dose of them against the Celtics. It’s the second leg of a back-to-back and there was no travel involved for the Warriors. At the same time, this is the last night of a season long six game road trip, injuries have piled up during this trip, and the team is already pretty lousy away from home. Steve Kerr used his entire rotation last night, and he’ll have to do it again to nurse his guys through this contest. For the Nets, they can’t afford to let their guard down and assume the Warriors will roll over.
This run is not going to last forever. Trail Blazers (17-14, LW 14). We don’t celebrate Damian Lillard‘s greatness enough — and his commitment and loyalty to the city. That did change a little this past week when, with a couple of free throws Monday night, Lillard passed Clyde Drexler to become the all-time leading scorer in Trail Blazer history.
Player grades: Kevin Durant swishes 23 as Nets steamroll Warriors 143-113
Fortunately for Brooklyn, they got back in formation after halftime and escaped with a three point victory. The W was the team’s sixth in a row and capped off a perfect 4-0 road trip. After playing five of their first seven games at home, the Nets hit the road for four consecutive games before returning to play the Indiana Pacers (11/18), Charlotte Hornets (11/20) and Sacramento Kings (11/22).
All the Grizzlies want for Christmas is to get their second-best player back — Desmond Bane. He has been out with a toe injury since mid-November but is reportedly getting close to returning and giving Memphis an All-Star level second scoring option (he averaged 24.7 points a night in the dozen games he played before his injury). The spark of confidence is a byproduct of the recent stretch packed with winning and the smaller wins on the hardwood. The players are confident in the molding of chemistry and cohesion between one another, especially on the defensive end of the floor. The mood around the Nets, who sits in the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference standings through 31 games played, is an exciting one. Warren explained how the team is ready to take on the tough stretch and the tough shots ahead.
Boston Celtics
The Nets play their first nationally televised game of the season during that early home stretch when they host the Houston Rockets on Friday, Nov. 1. That is one of 12 games currently scheduled to air on either ESPN or TNT. It’s tough when everyone’s chasing after you. The margin for error is thinner, teams give you their best shot every night, and getting back to the top of the mountain becomes even harder.
The last two weeks have included a favorable schedule that included a season-long seven-game homestand and a handful of matchups against bottom-tier opponents. Sure, Brooklyn took care of business and has won 10 of their last 11 games , but a big test can change all. Overall, the Nets will have hot and cold stretches of the season. When evaluating the team, it’s important to not only take wins and losses into account, but also consider the quality of competition.
National League
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As the Nets have stacked up wins, there have been discussions about them not beating the very best teams. There may be something to that, but not that much. You can only play who’s in front of you, and the Nets have been handling business like they’re supposed to. The next few games against the Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, and Cleveland Cavaliers will be a great test of their recent improvements, and a good showing will give the fans even more optimism as we head in to 2023.
Brooklyn Nets vs Golden State Warriors Injury Report Revealed
Typed comments will be lost if you are not signed in. The Nets have 11 back-to-backs this year. The first one takes place at the start of November when the Houston Rockets visit on the first of the month, then Brooklyn visits Little Caesars Arena to play the Detroit Pistons on November 2. The Nets have three back-to-backs in January and March. The Nets will not be featured on the Christmas Day slate of games, though the Knicks will come to visit on December 26.
On September 10, the Nets announced a venue change from Nassau Coliseum to Barclays Center for the October 18 game against the Toronto Raptors. The Nets made the playoffs for a second consecutive season and faced the Toronto Raptors in the First Round, where they were swept in four games. Brooklyn Nets games will be broadcast regionally on the YES Network for the 18th consecutive season and on WFAN for the 16th consecutive season. The Nets will be featured on national television 20 times this season, with six games on ESPN, six contests on TNT and eight games on NBA TV. After hosting Golden State, the Nets will welcome Milwaukee to Brooklyn on Friday night. Irving hit 13-of-23 shots against the Pistons, marking the fourth time in the last five games he has broken the 30-point barrier.
If a team plays all of its toughest opponents at home, that definitely makes a difference. One final note before the Nets related-findings. Dubin’s strength of schedule rankings don’t account for whether the games are home or away; they just look at the quality of opponents in a vacuum. Additionally, schedules are inherently tougher for bad teams and easier for good teams since teams can’t play against themselves. For example, the worst team in the league never gets the schedule advantage of playing the worst team .
There is a local challenge element to the game, too. The Dubs lost to the Knicks on the Garden floor by 38 (THIRTY-EIGHT) points Tuesday night a bloody affair. So Nets — and Knicks fans — will want to see not just if the Nets can not just win, but match that margin of victory. The Knicks have now won eight straight. Combined with the Nets six straight, it’s the longest combined win streak in New York basketball since ... So, about that tanking for Victor Wembanyama… the Magic have won 6-of-7, including two wins over the Boston Celtics, and is playing its best basketball of the season.
Starting on Friday, Los Angeles has 7-of-8 on the road. As mentioned before, the long exam begins with Golden State on Wednesday night. The Warriors will come to Barclays Center for the second game of a New York back-to-back.
What the Rockets want for Christmas is the NBA Draft Lottery ping-pong balls to love them come this May. They already have a nice young core of players in Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Alperen Sengun and Kevin Porter Jr., but they could use one of those alphas at the top of the draft to lead them all. The Rockets are not all that far away and they know it, even if the learning curve can be a little painful this season. The obvious thing the Clippers need is continued health for their Kawhi Leonard and Paul George — considering the run of health issues around this team maybe Santa can bring the training staff a larger, industrial-sized ice machine. The other thing the Clippers need is continued luck — they have the point differential of a team, but they have racked up 18 wins to keep them in the mix in the West.
Then there was Knicks executives William “World Wide Wes” Wesley and Allan Houston, as well as forward Julius Randle, sitting courtside for a Mavericks-Jazz playoff game in Dallas . The Knicks are laughing about that all the way to the No.6 seed in the East . Brunson is averaging 20.8 points and 6.2 assists a game, has been the steady floor general the Knicks need and has played like an All-Star. DeRozan finished with 28, Zach LaVine had 22 and Nikola Vucevic 20 as Chicago picked up its second straight win on the road after dropping 7-of-9 overall. Trae Young led the Hawks with 34.
DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine play next to each other, not with each other, on offense and the team’s defensive effort is often flat. Mavericks (15-16, LW 11). What Luka Doncic and the Mavericks need for Christmas — a second shot creator and scorer — is unlikely to be in Santa’s bag this time of year, and may be on backorder until next summer. Dallas will host LeBron James and the Lakers on Christmas Day, a winnable game since the Lakers will be without Anthony Davis. LeBron vs. Luka is a good headliner, but for all the knocks on the Dallas supporting cast it is better than what the Lakers roll out. If those other players can knock down a few 3-pointers, the Mavericks should pick up the win.
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