Nets peaking at right time as NBA playoffs loom

NEW YORK – After a challenging season filled with uncertainties, the Brooklyn Nets have regained complete control of their destiny. 

The Nets rolled past Cleveland Cavaliers, 118-107, Friday night (Saturday Manila time) to move two wins away from securing a playoff berth. 

“That’s the past,” said Kyrie Irving, who dropped 18 points and eight assists. “Now we just control what we can control and get ready to hoop.”

The Nets’ championship window was almost shut after being dealt with several big blows from the unvaccinated Irving barred from playing at home until getting exemption on March 28, Kevin Durant’s MCL injury to James Harden bolting out of the team. 

But each time they were counted out, the Nets got back up. It was much like against the Cavaliers after they blew a 17-point lead and trailed by seven in the second half. 

“Game of runs. They made their run. We made ours early. They hit us in the mouth. And I liked how we responded,” Kevin Durant said. “That’s just been the nature of our season. We get knocked down and see how we respond. I thought tonight was a good example of how we can respond.”

Durant scored 36 points and matched Vince Carter’s franchise record of 25 30-point games in a single season to pace the Nets.  

Their third straight win gave the Nets the tie-breaker for the seventh seed after catching the Cavaliers at 43-38. 

Now, all they need to do is beat the lowly Indiana Pacers, losers of their last nine games, on Sunday (Monday Manila time) to secure the seventh seed. If the Nets win, they will host the no. 8 on Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time), with the winner moving to the playoffs in a potential first-round matchup against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. 

Durant could surpass Carter for the sole possession of the franchise record against the Pacers in their final regular-season game. He added five rebounds and five assists, the 16th time in their last 17 games that he dropped at least five dimes. 

“I actually think we’ve played very well out of the double team in the last month.  Kevin’s been great facilitating out of a double team, and the ball moves,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. 

Durant is averaging a career-high 6.2 assists per game this season. He’s come a long way since his rookie year when he only averaged 2.4 assists.  

“I think it starts with me just being patient,” Durant said. 

Durant agreed with Nash’s assessment that they had gotten better operating out of double teams this season. 

Bruce Brown, an unheralded two-way forward, has flourished playing off Durant. He scattered 18 points and flirted with a triple-double with 10 rebounds and eight assists. 

Durant commended Brown for doing a great job flashing every time the Nets superstar gets double-teamed.  

Brown shot 6 of 12, mostly on cuts and open three-pointers. He was perfect from the long distance. 

“It’s all mental,” Brown said of his improved outside shot. 

Brown is shooting a career-high 40.2 percent from downtown and has emerged as the Nets’ third-best player behind Durant and Irving since Harden was traded. He has found his niche with the team in the absence of sharpshooter Joe Harris and Ben Simmons, still out of commission since getting swapped for Harden.  

The Nets are still inconsistent. But had pulled their acts together when it mattered most. 

On Wednesday (Thursday Manila time), they were lethargic to start the game against across-the-river rival New York Knicks on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) before pulling off a second-half comeback. Against the Cavaliers, they stormed to a 17-point lead but allowed the Cavaliers to get back into the game. 

“We relaxed a little bit. But we locked in in the fourth quarter and blew them out,” Brown said. 

Nash attributed their inconsistencies to having basically three new players in the starting lineup. 

Andre Drummond (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Seth Curry (12 points, four assists) came on board at the trade deadline as part of the Harden trade. Irving missed more than half of the season. 

“This is a new group who played very few games together. So, we’re just looking for a little bit of improvement every day. That’s it,” Nash said. “We can’t get too carried away with reinventing the wheel, fixing the world’s problems. This is still a training month camp for this team.”

They need to ramp it up, or else it’s another wasted season for the Durant-Irving tandem who came to Brooklyn in the summer of 2019 with a promise of a championship. 

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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for the New York-based sports website empiresportsmedia.com.