As the basketball season began back in the fall, some people expected the Brooklyn Nets to face off against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.
You can rest assured that isn’t happening.
Although the Nets are not doing as poorly as the seemingly-cursed Lakers, they are facing their own challenges and are in a pretty big hole as well.
This is because of many absences for the team – including Kevin Durant because of injury and Kyrie Irving because of his COVID vaccine status.
But Durant is back now and Irving has been spectacular when he can play.
However, the team is still likely headed to the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The Raptors get a big win over the Clippers tonight in LA, sending them to five straight victories and moving them into a tie with Cleveland for sixth in the East. Both teams are 4 losses ahead of Brooklyn with 13 games to go — in short, it’ll be tough for Nets to escape play-in.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) March 17, 2022
The Toronto Raptors took down the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, giving them their fifth straight victory and placing them in a tie for sixth in the East with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Both teams are now four losses ahead of the Nets and there are only 13 games left in the regular season.
That means that Brooklyn will most definitely be at or around the eighth seed when the postseason starts.
Their ticket to the Play-In Tournament is all but punched.
Can They Still Make The Finals?
The idea of the Nets in the Play-In shouldn’t terrify fans of the team.
Despite their problems, Brooklyn is still a very good team – and they could be getting a lot better.
If Durant continues to thrive, Irving does what he does (when he can) and Ben Simmons finally joins the squad, they could still be a very scary team to compete against.
They have a very good chance of making it through the Play-In and getting into the playoffs.
But fans want more than that, they want them to go all the way to the Finals.
That will be a tough challenge for them to conquer but it’s far too soon to count the Nets out.
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