The Brooklyn Nets have now won their last six games. Kyrie Irving and James Harden look to be a great combo. The immediate future for Brooklyn looks bright.
The highlight of the season for the Nets so far is their recent sweep of the entire Pacific Conference. That’s big wins against the Lakers, Clippers, Suns, Warriors and Kings. Four of those five teams are the top eight seeds in the Western Conference.
With those proven wins, that brings up the thought of how serious of contenders the Nets are. The obvious answer is that they are one of the clear favorites out of the East.
Problems That Have Been Fixed
But don’t let the big names on Brooklyn fool from the fact that the team has flaws. Their biggest flaw is their lack of personnel that help on the defensive side of the ball. The Nets are one of the worst teams in points allowed this season. Investing into players that are known for their offense, this is expected.
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To counter these problems, the Nets have recently acquired shooting guards Andre Roberson and Iman Shumpert who are known throughout their careers for defense. They also added power forward Noah Vonleh to bring in size off the bench.
These signings at this point in the season are huge. They’re important because the Nets are fixing an evident problem with their team. It also allows the new players to get familiar with the team so when playoff time rolls around, the Nets will be a tough team to beat.
Who Stands a Chance?
Speaking of a tough team to beat, who really has a chance to beat the Nets? Let’s just compile a list of teams that Brooklyn could face in the playoffs: the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers or Boston Celtics.
From a personnel standpoint and roster comparison, the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers have no chance. They might have a player that can match up with KD, Kyrie or James Harden, but those teams don’t have players that can match up with all three superstars.
That leaves the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. Both having Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid respectively. Embiid, not to mention, is playing at an MVP level this year.
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Starting off with Philly. The 76ers most likely would match up Tobias Harris with Kevin Durant, Danny Green with Kyrie and Ben Simmons with James Harden. Here’s where the Sixers have the match-up advantage. Who’s going to guard Joel Embiid? All of Brooklyn’s possible matchups aren’t as good defensively or as big as Embiid to stop him, especially with the season he’s having.
In the end, Brooklyn would most likely prevail because of the experience they carry on that roster in the playoffs and Finals, something Philly is scare on.
Why Not Milwaukee?
Now to Milwaukee. Despite having a two-time MVP on their squad, they’re most likely less to beat Brooklyn in a seven-game series as opposed to Philadelphia. Not because of personnel, but because the Bucks just don’t have that it-factor this season
The Bucks are a solid team, but it seems that they aren’t as good as they were last year. They traded away key assets to bring in Jrue Holiday. With that they lost other key guys as well. Now don’t underestimate Jrue Holiday because the man can hoop, he’s proven that his whole career.
Comparing the Bucks roster from last season to this year, it just seems like the core Milwaukee had a season ago just worked better. They meshed together.
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Lastly, Milwaukee won’t beat Brooklyn because of their past proven struggles to get to a Finals. Last year, they were overwhelmed by an underdog Miami Heat. In 2018-19 they lost to the eventual champion Toronto Raptors.
Point being, the Bucks have been able to compete, but they just don’t have that championship DNA, like the Brooklyn Nets, to get to a Finals and win.
So, to summarize, all Nets fans should be comfortable with their team from here on out. They made roster changes to address their defensive struggles. They have two MVP’s on the team and one of the best point guards in the league. To top it all off, they just swept the best division in the league.
All signs pointing to a very bright, not-so-distant future.
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