BROOKLYN — For a Nets team trying to build team camaraderie and cohesion on the fly, Friday’s dramatic comeback win over the Boston Celtics may have been a blessing in disguise.
The Nets have hit the stretch run of the season and are in the middle of trying to blend four new players into their system after going through a dramatic organizational change around the trade deadline. Brooklyn has struggled to pull out wins since they traded Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in separate deals
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Head coach Jacque Vaughn has been trying to get the new group comfortable with one another while keeping the Nets in the playoff picture, and out of the play-in round. Finding a way to complete the NBA’s biggest comeback of the season last week could be the seminal moment the new group of Nets needs.
“Yeah, definitely gives you some proof and evidence for sure. Guys need that,” Vaughn said ahead of Sunday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets. “They need to see what we’ve been working on, what we’ve been talking about as a group that it’s actually going to work. The proof and evidence is getting wins and to do it on the road against a quality team. Not giving up after that first quarter to find out how we’re going to figure out a way really gives our team some, I don’t know, some proof that we can get it done. Gives a little bit of forming an identity and hopefully, we can grab onto it.”
The Nets have dropped five of their last six games since returning from the all-star break, with the win over Boston being their only one. They hosted the Hornets on Sunday before going on a five-game road trip while the A-10 Tournament takes over Barclays Center.
The Nets’ schedule the rest of the way won’t provide an easy stretch and they’ll need to find a rhythm fast. Vaughn has relied on his starters for heavy minutes in recent weeks and that isn’t likely to change as the team inches closer to the end of the year.
“I’m trying to hedge that a little bit with the short time between regular season and this group being together and playoffs,” Vaughn explained. “So getting them in a position to be comfortable playing more minutes probably as we head to the final 19 games. Instead of trying to, like we’ve done in the past, kind of ramp them up to be able to play playoff minutes. Definitely a balance, definitely something I’m cognisant of and thinking about as we’re trying to get this group with four new guys starting to play together. But also have playoff minutes in the back of my mind, yeah.”
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