As the Brooklyn Nets’ search for a new general manager continues, so does their search for more wins. Hosting the Indiana Pacers last night, a loss, and the Sacramento Kings tomorrow (Friday), Brooklyn has played competitively at times since defeating the Oklahoma Thunder two weeks ago.
Except for last night’s 14 point loss, and a 12 point road loss to the Dallas Mavericks last weekend, they’ve only loss by four to the Miami Heat, by two on the road to the New Orleans Pelicans, and by five to the Detroit Pistons here at home during this last stretch of games. Games they were in and capable of winning. They had opportunities, but failed in the final minutes, seconds to close those teams out.
“I thought we battled defensively,” said interim head coach, Tony Brown. “I’m happy that we’re shooting the ball better,” in regards to Brooklyn’s scoring overall.
“We got a couple of good looks. Every shot didn’t go down, but we were definitely pleased with it,” said center Brook Lopez in regards to Monday night’s effort, which totaled 28 assists against the Pistons.
Brooklyn, 12-38, in fourteenth place in the Eastern Conference, are only five wins ahead of the last place Philadelphia 76’ers who they play in Philly on Saturday. The Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies, both western conference teams, play here at Barclays Center on Monday and Wednesday of next week, before the upcoming, mid season all-star game break.
The annual NBA All-Star Game, the 65th, hosted this year in Toronto, will be played on Sunday, February 14th. This will be the first time that the game will be held outside of the United States.
Brooklyn’s guard/forward, Bojan Bogdanovic, 26, has been selected to play in the Rising Stars Challenge that weekend. This will be his second consecutive appearance. No Brooklyn players have been selected to this season’s all-star roster, which will be coached by Tyronn Lue, recently hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers to replace fired head coach, David Blatt. Before his firing, Blatt was the scheduled all-star game coach.
Jeff Hornacek, now “the former” head coach of the Phoenix Suns, was also fired this past Monday, joining Blatt on the list of head coaches now unemployed. Hornacek, the fourth firing this season, also joins Kevin McHale, fired by the Houston Rockets, and Lionel Hollins, fired by the Nets.