The Brooklyn Nets have one more chance to win a statement game early in the season.
Although not much has gone right for Brooklyn this season, it still has a chance to finish the in-season tournament strong. After falling in the first two NBA Cup games against the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic, the Nets shocked the Boston Celtics, winning a group play game in TD Garden that effectively eliminated Boston from knockout stage contention.
Going into their final group stage game on Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Nets have no hopes of moving on. With the 76ers also out of contention at 0-3 in group play, there won’t be much to play for as far the NBA Cup goes.
However, any player around the league will tell you that these NBA Cup games simply feel more competitive. Even with nothing on the line beyond the regular season standings, when the Nets and 76ers walk out onto the Barclays Center court, there should be a bit more juice than your standard late November contest.
Although Philadelphia has lost some steam after its hot start, it is still a team looking to secure a playoff spot and lift itself back up to contender status in the near future. Unsurprisingly, Joel Embiid won’t be on the floor and Paul George is questionable, but the Nets will have a chance to test their skills against Tyrese Maxey and a solid Sixers rotation.
While a win against Philadelphia would only result in a third-place finish for the Nets in their NBA Cup group, it could be a confidence booster, given that they would be ahead of the Celtics and 76ers, both divisional rivals. With plenty of matchups to come against those squads, knowing they can beat them in a higher-stakes environment could be huge later.
Overall, Brooklyn would still like to simply be a tanking team and lose as much as possible. However, there’s plenty of reason to believe that the Nets could be a pesky team ready to compete on any given night and even rack up some wins, particularly if they’re able to pull off this upset over the Sixers in Barclays.
It might not be easy for the Nets to become any sort of threat in the play-in race this season, and they likely don’t even want to be in that conversation, but becoming one of the clear spoilers in the Eastern Conference could be a role the Nets can embrace moving forward.
