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Brooklyn Nets Notebook: Insights ahead of game at Toronto Raptors

The Nets travel to Toronto to face the Raptors, hoping to quickly move on from their tough loss against the Hornets at Barclays Center on Wednesday.

Getting a victory at the Air Canada Centre won’t be easy for Brooklyn though. The Nets have an 11-game losing streak against the Raptors, their longest winless run against any NBA opponent. Still, Brooklyn is coming off of a promising 2-1 stretch at home and have shown encouraging signs since Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was reinserted back into the lineup.

Game Info: Nets vs. Raptors, 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: YES, Radio: WFAN)

Here’s What to Watch For:

Can the Nets Get Back on Track and Build Momentum?

As explained in this story, Kenny Atkinson is putting faith in his younger players to see how they handle challenges in their final 10 games of the season. And facing the Raptors at Air Canada Centre is definitely up there.

They’re a good team, a really good team, playing really well right now,” LeVert said. “Obviously, they are trying to solidify themselves into first place in the East, so they are going to be playing hard as we will be too. It’ll be a good game.”

Despite the final result against the Hornets, the Nets showed a lot of positive strides on Wednesday. They improved defensively and played a free-flowing style of basketball in the first half, it just unfortunately came crumbling down in the second half. Brooklyn needs to figure out how to play consistently for 48 minutes. Friday is a good place to start.

Can Hollis-Jefferson keep it up?

Aside from off-shooting night against the Hornets (38.5 percent on FGs), the third-year forward has been scorching lately.

In his last five games, Hollis-Jefferson is averaging 18.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists while shooting 51.6 percent. While he still needs to improve from downtown, Hollis-Jefferson continues to show his craftiness inside the paint as shown below.

Key quotes:

Atkinson on facing the Raptors: “Tough one, they’re talented and they are playing great. I thought we’ve done decently twice [them] and we’ve had one stinker against [them]. I’m interested to see how we’ll react to this game, a tough loss [against the Hornets]. I think we’ll come out and compete.”

LeVert on lessons learned from Charlotte loss: “Taking every possession and making it like it’s your last [one]. Don’t take any given possession for granted -- we were up 23 in the second half and we let it slip. I feel like it was more than just the fourth quarter with three minutes left, it was more than that. We didn’t take care of the basketball. We didn’t take great shots down the stretch and that cost us.”