Upcoming Games
Tonight vs Raptors: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 7 p.m.
Friday at Knicks: Coverage on My9 & the YES App begins at 7:30 p.m.
Season finale Sunday at 76ers: Coverage on My9 & the YES App begins at 1 p.m.
Tipping Off
While they have been eliminated from postseason contention, the Nets are looking to finish the season on a positive note! They’ve won five of their last eight games, matching their win total from their previous 15. Two of those victories occurred at the expense of the Pacers and Bulls, a pair of teams hoping to make noise in the playoffs – Indiana currently holds the last guaranteed trip to the postseason in the Eastern Conference, and Chicago has locked up a spot in the East’s Play-In Tournament to determine its seventh and eighth seeds.
Congrats, Vince!
We want to congratulate our own Vince Carter on his first-ballot election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024! He was announced as part of the group last Saturday, one of 13 icons who gained entry. The first NBA player to appear in four different decades, Vince authored a significant chapter of his legendary career with the Nets, and we love having him on our broadcast team. Acquired from the Raptors on Dec. 17, 2004, Carter played for the Nets through the 2008-09 season and scored 8,834 points, the third-highest total in franchise history behind Brook Lopez (10,444) and Buck Williams (10,440). He scored 2,070 of those points in 2006-07, making him the only player in team history with at least 2,000 in a single season.
Nets Notes
Noah Clowney is making a big impression down the stretch! Over his last three games, Clowney has become just the second rookie in Nets history to tally at least 45 points, 25 rebounds, five 3-pointers and five blocks in a three-game span. He joins Chris Morris, who did so late in the 1988-89 season. Jalen Wilson is coming off the first back-to-back games of his career with double-digit points, having scored 10 Saturday against Detroit and 11 in a start versus the Kings on Sunday. Trendon Watford has scored 11+ points in six of his last eight games. Last Wednesday was an emotional night for Dorian Finney-Smith, who played an NBA game with his father Elbert in attendance for the first time. Elbert was released from prison in December after serving close to 29 years of a 44-year sentence.
Know The Foes
The 25-54 Raptors have won two of their last three games following a 15-game losing streak. At 47-32, the Knicks are currently third in the East, a game behind second-place Milwaukee but only one game ahead of fourth-place Orlando and fifth-place Cleveland. OG Anunoby recently returned to New York after missing 24 of 27 games between Jan. 29 and April 4 due to right elbow surgery and a subsequent flare-up, but Julius Randle, who played his last game Jan. 27, is out for the season due to right shoulder surgery. The 45-35 76ers just got Joel Embiid back and are a game behind the Pacers for sixth place in the East.