The Nets are in Europe today, Paris, France to be exact, to play the Cleveland Cavaliers (2 p.m. EST) . They are going into the game having lost 11 of their last 14, including two five-game losing streaks, and are 16-21, now the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Brooklyn had one of their most impressive wins of the season last Friday, a 124-115 win at home over the Oklahoma City Thunder, one of the best teams in the league this season, but followed that up with a 134-127 overtime loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at the Barclays Center. The Trailblazers came into Brooklyn with only nine wins. Nets forward Mikal Bridges scored 42 points in the loss.
“We finally got one and wanted to get a little streak going,” Bridges said after the loss. “I had the opportunity at home to get the team coming on a road trip. So yeah, it sucks.”
Before the game, Brooklyn’s head coach Jacque Vaughn explained the moving parts and tried to find an explanation for the Nets’ struggles.
“I think we tried more things versus Oklahoma City this past game than any time on the fly throughout the course of the season.” he said. “And to see our guys be able to react and respond was something that I had been wanting to see and our guys had confidence in it. I think they’re understanding why we’re doing it with different lineups, covering for people in different situations, providing some opportunity to create opportunities for turnovers and other situations, and creating variety with our group.
“We got a group that one defense won’t suit this group,” Vaughn added. “Because different individuals have strengths and so we’re trying to use everyone’s strengths throughout the course of the game by having multiple defenses.”
Last week, the NBA fined the Nets’ organization $100,000 for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy in connection with the team’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 27 at Barclays Center. The NBA determined that four Nets rotation players, who did not participate in the game, could have played under the medical standard in the Player Participation Policy, which is intended to promote player participation in the NBA’s 82-game regular season.
The four players are believed to be Dorian Finney-Smith, Nic Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Cam Johnson.
Since exiting the starting lineup on December 29, guard Cam Thomas has struggled, averaging only 11.2 points in those six games. Thomas entered Thursday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers as the second-leading scorer on the team with 20.3 points per game.
A Brooklyn team that already lacks size will be without backup center Day’Ron Sharpe, who was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee he suffered in Sunday’s game and will be re-evaluated in about two weeks.
After facing Cleveland today in Paris, the Nets head back to Brooklyn to face the Miami Heat on Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day. The Nets then embark on a three-game road trip beginning in Portland against the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
