The Brooklyn Nets are getting right into it with the NBA restart as they open up against the Orlando Magic on Friday, followed by the Washington Wizards on Sunday. The Nets (30-34) are one-half game ahead of eighth-place Orlando (30-35). Ninth-place Washington (24-40) is six games back of Brooklyn and must finish within four games of the eighth-place finisher to force a play-in for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
So when it comes to clinching a playoff spot without having to go to the play-in, Brooklyn essentially opens up this eight-game seeding round with a one-game advantage on the Wizards. Jarrett Allen said the message from veteran Jamal Crawford was to look at these matchups as if they count twice.
“These first two games are huge,” said Joe Harris. “Obviously, we’re excited to get back playing a normal, regular-season-type game. I think the scrimmages were great to work over a lot of new stuff, bring in some guys that are new to the organization, get familiar with one another. We’re all ready to go, we’re ready to compete, and we realize how important these first two games are.”
After two weeks of practices in Orlando followed by another week that featured three scrimmages, Friday’s game — the league officially tips off with Thursday’s schedule — will mark a new stage to this unprecedented experience for the Nets.
The Black Lives Matter protests and social justice movement that have come to the forefront over the last two months have remained a focus of players while on the NBA Campus. On Friday, Nets players will have social justice messages on the backs of their jerseys for the first time with the start of the official schedule. They are playing on a court with a “BLACK LIVES MATTER” statement painted across halfcourt.
On Wednesday, Jacque Vaughn said any other statement or action the Nets players take at Friday’s game would be done in unison, something Garrett Temple echoed.
“I think everybody may do something different, every team,” said Temple. “Our team, whatever we do we’re gonna do it as a team and make sure everybody’s OK with what we do. We haven’t come to a specific decision but y’all will see what we do, but we will do something and y’all will see it when it happens.”
It’s a backdrop like no other for the NBA as the Nets return to play. But four-and-a-half months after the season was stopped during their California road trip, they will take the court in a game that counts as the league goes ahead with completing the 2019-20 season. Vaughn addressed the restart prior to the team’s final scrimmage on Monday against Utah.
“I think overall there’s just a few pillars in life that you can continue to lean on, the sacrificing for others, the empathy for others, the ability to show gratitude,” said Vaughn. “And so I said to the team coming out that this is a great opportunity for us and there should be an appreciation level to grow with each other to appreciate each other’s differences, to acknowledge them for us to enjoy this time in our lives. This is unprecedented and to be a part of it you might as well lean into a little bit of gratitude.”
SIZING UP THE ROTATION
The Nets will begin the season restart on Friday with 14 available players as they get ready to play eight games in 14 days. In the final scrimmage on Monday, Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen each played 31 minutes, and Joe Harris played 29. After the opt-outs and injuries, that trio is the core of the restart roster.
“A lot of pressure that way for those guys to perform, but I think they appreciate that,” said Jacque Vaughn. “They are unbelievable teammates, all three of them, and understand that their roles are important, very interconnected in our success and how we share the basketball, and the independent jobs they each have. They'll play the most minutes more than likely, they'll play the most minutes again, that'll be their task. That's why we've been very tactical in how we're going to build them up and what was the best options of playing and not playing some scrimmage games just to get them in position to sustain. So right now they're in a good place and hopefully that continues.”
After that, the Nets have a combination that consists mostly of new arrivals — they have added five players — and players that have at times been in and out of the rotation over the first five months of the season. If it doesn’t lead to a deep rotation, it may lead to a fluid one.
“I think we’ll have a variety,” said Vaughn. “We’ll be strategic of when we’re going to have a short rotation, and the games that we’ll extend that rotation. So depending on what games they are I think that’ll be the most mindful thing for us.”
Two of the new arrivals did not play in any of the scrimmages, and they represent opposite ends of the spectrum. Donta Hall is a rookie forward and center who spent most of this season in the G League, playing in four NBA games. Jamal Crawford is a 40-year-old veteran of 1,326 games who is now in his 20th NBA season.
“We’ll continue to assess Donta and Jamal and see when they’ll participate in games,” said Vaughn. “They haven’t done any scrimmages, but we’re very mindful of the Orlando game isn’t the be-all game for us. We want to be healthy throughout this and we’ll continue to be vigilant in keeping our guys in a healthy position.”
The Nets have been easing Hall into things since his first practice on Friday with a lot of individual workouts.
“I would say Jamal is definitely ahead just because he’s played over 1,300 games in his career,” said Vaughn. “He’s a guy that understands his body, understands the different flows of the game and how he can impact the game. Conversely, with Donta being a younger player, we’ll need a little bit more input on how he can impact the team. Fully confident in Jamal’s ability to impact the game when he does return for us.”
ABOUT THE MAGIC
The Magic were closing in on the Nets and seventh-place when the season was suspended in March, winning eight of their last 12 games to get within a half-game. That included a 115-113 win over Brooklyn on Feb. 24, giving the Magic a 2-0 edge on the Nets in the head-to-head matchup this season. Orlando is at full strength, with scoring and rebounding leader Nikola Vucevic (19.5 points per game, 11.0 rebounds per game), Evan Fournier (18.8 ppg, 40.6 3PT%), and Aaron Gordon (14.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.7 apg). They’ve even got reinforcements, with forward Jonathan Isaac, out since Jan. 1 with a knee injury, returning to the court for the team’s final scrimmage on Monday.
Follow Tom Dowd on Twitter @TOMDOWD22