BROOKLYN – A string of poor play may cost the Brooklyn Nets a playoff spot in the pathetic Eastern Conference.
Their inability over the last several games – and throughout the season as a whole – to consistently beat winning teams could end up being the back-breaker for this ballclub.
Despite being without Joakim Noah, the Chicago Bulls outscored the Nets 30-15 in the third quarter and ran away with a 113-86 laugher that cost Brooklyn the eighth spot in the East, which now belongs to the Indiana Pacers.
“There’s really no explanation, no excuse,” said Nets point guard Deron Williams. “I’d think we’d play with a little more desperation with the way things are playing out right now but it hasn’t.”
After a season-saving, hope-inspiring six-game winning streak, Brooklyn has dropped four of its last six and is 12-31 this season against teams with at least a .500 record.
“We lost, plain and simple,” Nets guard Joe Johnson said. “I really, honestly can’t explain it. I don’t know how that’s possible with this being a very important game. So, I really don’t know.”
Brooklyn’s wins came with unselfish play, strong ball movement and improved defense with the help of Brook Lopez, the winner of consecutive Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards.
“We have to give up the ball, we have to make shots, we have to make layups, we have to defend,” said Nets coach Lionel Hollins, whose team assisted on just 12 of its 32 baskets and shot 36.8 percent from the field.
“We decided that we wanted to try to do everything off the dribble and on our own,” Williams said. “Didn’t get many assists and you really can’t win against teams like this when you’re not sharing the ball.”
You can’t really win either if you don’t feed your best player in the second half. Lopez took only one shot and scored just three points in the final 24 minutes, taken out of the game by the Bulls’ superior big men just when the Nets really needed to solidify their playoff positioning.
“We’re just not playing well,” said Nets forward Thaddeus Young. “We just need to go out there and play better and get back to the days that we’ve been playing as a basketball team that got us to this point.”
Brooklyn’s only wins over the last half-dozen games were against Washington without John Wall and Portland, which chose to sit LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Chris Kaman. The Nets lost twice to Atlanta – the team they would face in the playoffs – plus Milwaukee and Chicago, all quality teams deserving of their trips to the postseason.
Asked if the Nets have the mental toughness to bounce back from this loss, Johnson said he just didn’t know.
“I have no idea,” he said. “I can’t answer that.”
“The other teams have to win, too,” Hollins said. “Indiana has to win. We win Wednesday and they don’t win both games, we’re still in. That’s the way I’m looking at it.”
With the win, Chicago clinched at least the fourth seed in the East, giving it home court in the first round. If Indiana wins its last two games, the Pacers will make the playoffs despite a 15-30 start.
“We really don’t have control. It’s in Indiana’s control,” Johnson said.
The Pacers, winners of five in a row, play Tuesday night at Washington, which is locked into the fifth seed by virtue of Brooklyn’s loss on Monday and has nothing to play for. On Wednesday, the Pacers return home to play Memphis. They control their own destiny and could be playing two teams that are resting players.
“We had a tough schedule, but we’ve hung in there and we’re still there. It’s not over,” Hollins said.
Brooklyn hosts an Orlando team with nothing to play for on Wednesday, but it doesn’t matter if the Pacers win out.
By losing to good teams, as they’ve done all season, down the stretch, the Nets may very well have cost themselves a spot in the postseason in one of the weakest conferences in recent memory.
Shlomo Sprung is a national columnist for SheridanHoops who focuses on analytics, profiles and features. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. Follow him on Twitter.