The Brooklyn Nets have not had much luck winning games this season as the organization is still looking for its next franchise player in the early stages of this rebuild. One of the aspects of the season that Brooklyn could look forward to was competing in the NBA Cup, but it’s possible that the prospects of the in-season tournament could be just a memory soon enough.
The NBA announced on Thursday that one of the scenarios that could happen after Friday’s slate of NBA Cup games across the league is that the Nets could be eliminated from the tournament altogether. Brooklyn’s matchup at the Boston Celtics on Friday now carries even more weight than just being a regular-season game and an NBA Cup game, but now, they have to win to stay alive in the in-season tournament.
Friday’s game between the Nets and Celtics is interesting for multiple reasons, but one of those reasons is the fact that these teams faced each other on Tuesday, a game that Boston won 113-99. Brooklyn competed well in the game for the first three quarters of the contest, but the fourth quarter showed that the Nets need more from their veterans if they’re going to finish games the way they need to in order to win.
The Nets are in the same group (East Group B) as the Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Philadelphia 76ers and so far, Brooklyn has been unable to beat any of those teams this season. Brooklyn is not only the last-place team in the group, but when it comes to potentially playing for the Eastern Conference wildcard spot, they are also last in that regard as well.
Granted, head coach Jordi Fernandez and the Nets are trying to figure several aspects of the team at the same time so something like the NBA Cup could fall by the wayside because developing young players matters the most. More to the point, Fernandez has to devise a way that rookies like Egor Demin and Drake Powell can continue playing ample minutes in the rotation while putting the team in a position to win games as well.
