The Brooklyn Nets headed into last night’s game against Philadelphia with some momentum after beating the Houston Rockets earlier in the week. Facing a 76ers team that has won one game this season, the Nets knew they had an opportunity to continue to get things going in the right direction. They did. After a sluggish 36 minutes, Brooklyn put in 30 points in the fourth quarter, to earn their 7th win in a 100-91 drubbing of the lowly Sixers.
Sometimes when a team plays against a highly inferior opponent, bad basketball becomes contagious, and this was evident last night. There were times throughout the contest where the Nets just did not look like themselves and were slipping into some of their old habits from earlier in the season. Playing against a one-win Philadelphia team is not a game where Brook Lopez should wind up in foul trouble. However, Brooklyn was able to get it together by crunch time to avoid a disastrous loss to a dreadful Sixers team.
With Brook Lopez on the bench because of foul trouble, the Nets needed somebody to step up, and last night the spark plug was Andrea Bargnani who led the offensive effort, scoring 23 points. Bargnani has been questioned by many as to how much he has left in the tank, but since returning from a hamstring injury, he has given the Nets some hope that he can supply some quality minutes off the bench.
One thing that the Nets have been able to accomplish recently is that they have been protecting their home court. They have now won seven of their last eight games at the Barclays Center and are building some momentum after their disastrous 0-7 start.
With Christmas still two weeks off, There is still plenty of season left to turn the tables around, overtake their cross-town rivals and make a playoff push.
One thing is certain, take away their recent loss to the Knicks and the Nets are now playing competitive night in, night out, sometimes against some of the most talented teams in the NBA. And even though they struggled with the worst team in the league last night, their monstrous fourth quarter showed good ball movement and solid firepower.
Up next for Brooklyn is annual Western Conference playoff contender, the Los Angeles Clippers, at the Barclays Center on Saturday night. They have two more home games that follow against Orlando and Miami, and this gives the Nets more opportunities to continue to play well at the Barclays Center.
