Nets finding scarce practice time in form of end-of-season games
While other NBA teams shut down starters in the final games of the regular season, the Nets ruled every player except Ben Simmons available for Wednesday’ s matchup against the Orlando Magic. A loss would make Sunday’ s season finale against the Philadelphia 76 ers a must-win to ward off the seventh-seeded Miami Heat and avoid falling into the Play-In Tournament.
The Nets are tending to their own backyard.
While other NBA teams shut down starters in the final games of the regular season, the Nets ruled every player except Ben Simmons (nerve impingement, out for the season) available for Wednesday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic.
The Nets entered the night one win away from securing the Eastern Conference’s sixth and final guaranteed playoff seed. A loss would make Sunday’s season finale against the Philadelphia 76ers a must-win to ward off the seventh-seeded Miami Heat and avoid falling into the Play-In Tournament.
The Sixers, for example, rested their entire starting lineup Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks. The Miami Heat also rested their core rotation: Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Kevin Love and Nikola Jovic all sat for the Heat against the Washington Wizards.
“That’s why you water your own lawn, bro. I am concerned only about what’s gonna be beneficial for this group, and for us right now, it’s to play tonight’s game, see what happens and always do what’s best for the group,” head coach Jacque Vaughn said pregame. “For us, not concerned about what other people are doing. I think that’s the extremely best way to live your life. You don’t compare. You just do your group.”
Vaughn opted against feeding into the idea that another team’s rotation decisions could impact his thinking in Brooklyn. But there could be a benefit to playing the final regular season game with a full roster, even if the Nets have locked in a playoff berth with a victory over the shorthanded Magic on Friday.
Playing at full strength would afford Vaughn and his players another opportunity to get reps before the games begin to count.
For a team that was assembled at the trade deadline, opportunities to get reps outside of game time has been scarce.
Vaughn said ahead of tipoff against the Magic that he hadn’t yet seen his team play a perfect basketball game. He said he wanted his players to eliminate the outside noise.
“Be present. Nothing else matters, a week from now, tomorrow, be present in today’s game’,” he said was the message to his players. “That’s the most important thing and to challenge our group to play four quarters. Like, we haven’t put four aggressive, in-sync quarters together yet. So, great challenge for us to try and do it tonight.”
Vaughn said he and his players did not mention the playoffs or the standings at any point through Wednesday’s pregame walkthrough; nor did they discuss the elephant in the room:
A victory over the Magic would clinch the playoffs for the fifth season in a row.
“That’s how I’ve coached these guys. I’ll continue to be that way. It is really being present,” Vaughn said. “I’ll reiterate that before the game. Nothing else matters but these two-and-a-half hours that we’re going to be able to play basketball vs. the Magic.”
HELLO DUKE, GOODBYE MOSES
The Nets converted two-way forward David Duke Jr’s contract to a standard NBA deal on Wednesday. They also let center Moses Brown’s second 10-day contract expire without an additional offer.
Vaughn said the decision to let Brown was tied to his ineligibility to qualify for the playoffs.
“And so then, you just have an empty body,” he said.
Duke, on the other hand, had appeared in 43 games for the Nets over the last two seasons as an undrafted free agent out of Providence.
“He’s a part of our system. He knows our terminology, he knows our plays already. He’s been put in the game before and could easily adapt to being put in the game going forward,” Vaughn said. “So, rewarding for the work that he’s put in. He’s a diligent worker, he’s a part of our program and the system, so glad to have him on the roster spot.”
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