The Brooklyn Nets might not be winless for much longer.
On Monday night, the Nets wrapped up a back-to-back in Barclays Center with a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Unable to pick up a home win against Minnesota or Philadelphia, the Nets are 0-7, good for the worst mark in the East as one of the only two winless squads remaining in the NBA.
With the Nets’ only company being the directionless New Orleans Pelicans, they could finally find a positive early in the season with their matchup on Wednesday. The Nets will be in Indiana to face the Pacers, who have had a miserable 1-6 start to the season that has been filled with tight losses, including a buzzer-beating defeat against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.
So far this season, those clutch games have been arguably the biggest problem for the Pacers. Of course, that isn’t exactly an encouraging point for the Nets, who have also struggled mightily to find any success in tight games.
While the on-court situations might not favor the Nets going into this matchup, the off-court situation could easily swing things in Brooklyn’s favor. Through the first couple of weeks, the Pacers have struggled to find any sort of injury luck, and that misfortune is set to continue on Wednesday night.
Indiana is set to be without eight guys against the Nets, and these lengthy injury reports have been the story of its season. While Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell began the year on the sideline, six players on Indiana’s inactive list have played this season, including Johnny Furphy and Quenton Jackson, who each suffered their injuries on Monday night against the Bucks.
While that many injuries would be detrimental to any team, the Pacers are a team that loves to play fast and play a lot of guys. With such a limited roster, Indiana won’t be able to play its ideal style for a full 48 minutes consistently, and the Nets need to take advantage of that.
While a team that was just in Game 7 of the NBA Finals is still sure to have plenty of grit in any matchup, as showcased by the Pacers’ plethora of clutch games early, Brooklyn could finally get a win thanks to circumstances outside of their control.
After an 0-7 start, it’s clear that any win will be challenging for the Nets to get, but this is exactly the type of situation Brooklyn has been looking for.
