Upcoming Games
Tonight at Wizards: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 6:30 p.m.
Friday vs Bulls: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday vs Lakers: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 6:00 p.m.
Monday at Pacers: Coverage on My9 & the YES App begins at 7:00 p.m.
Next Wednesday vs Pacers: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 7:30 p.m.
Tipping Off
With 10 games left on their regular season schedule, the Nets are 5.5 games behind Atlanta for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament, which will determine the seventh and eighth seeds in the Eastern playoffs. After Brooklyn returns home following action in Washington D.C. this evening, the team will only have to fly for one more road game this season, its upcoming visit to Indiana. They will end the season with games at the Knicks and 76ers.
Nets Notes
Nic Claxton grabbed 16 rebounds during Monday’s victory in Toronto, one off the season-high he posted Jan. 23 against the Knicks. Claxton has four games of at least 16 boards this year after having just one of them in 190 games, including the postseason, over the first four years of his career. After signing with Brooklyn on a two-way deal following his release from Memphis, Jacob Gilyard made his Nets debut in Toronto, playing a little more than 11 minutes off the bench and helping the Nets deal with some key absences. Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson and Dennis Smith Jr. all missed that game. Trendon Watford took advantage of some extended playing time against the Raptors, scoring a season-high 19 points in almost 21 minutes of action. Jalen Wilson added 12 points, his highest total since his current stint with the Nets began Feb. 6.
Know The Foes
The 14-58 Wizards have the second-worst record in the NBA, ahead of only the 12-60 Pistons. At 34-38, the Bulls are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference, but only 1.5 games ahead of 10th place Atlanta as both teams aim to make the East’s play-in tournament. The 40-32 Lakers are in play-in position in the Western Conference, but they are within three games of sixth-place Dallas, and catching the Mavericks would guarantee Los Angeles a playoff spot. The 41-32 Pacers are packed within a crowd in the middle of the East. Indiana occupies sixth place right now, just two games behind fifth-place Orlando, but only 1.5 games above the cutoff for the play-in tournament, currently occupied by seventh-place Miami.
A Dazzling Fact
Having made 190 three-point shots this season, Mikal Bridges is 10 away from joining an exclusive club! If he can get there, Bridges would become the fifth player in Nets history to hit 200 treys in a single season. The four players already in that club got there between the 2017-18 and 2021-22 seasons: Allen Crabbe, Joe Harris, Patty Mills and the record holder, D’Angelo Russell, who hit 234 treys in 2018-19. The Nets will see their old friend Russell on Sunday, when he returns to Barclays Center. Stay with YES and the YES App as Bridges and the Nets head down the stretch.
