OKLAHOMA CITY — This is the gauntlet that has loomed out on the horizon for anybody in the mood to handicap this Brooklyn Nets season and predict wins and losses, playoffs or no playoffs. A 13-game closing stretch that begins in Oklahoma City Wednesday night to open a seven-game road trip followed by a closing kick filled with the Eastern Conference's best teams.
Here's the question: Should we have moved this target up a game?
On Monday night, in their final trip before heading west, the Nets hosted the Detroit Pistons, the NBA's winningest team over the last month. The Pistons had won 12 of 14 and posted the league's highest offensive rating since early February. The Nets, in front of Barclays Center's sell-out crowd, took them apart.
"Our guys attacked it," said Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said of his team's response to the big-game vibe. "Sometimes when you're not used to these big games quote unquote you might be on your heels a little, but I felt like we were the more aggressive team. That kind of says we weren't afraid of the moment, that's for sure. I like how we attacked it. I like how we were the more aggressive team. Definitely a good sign for us if we have more of these games in the future."
The Nets had won three straight coming in, against Dallas, Cleveland and Atlanta. That coincided with a shuffle of the starting lineup, a tightening of the rotation. It looked good. Atkinson wanted to see it again. "Some confirmation," he called it.
He got it a dose of it against the Pistons. And more of those games are indeed on the way in the future. The first three games of the trip are against teams in the Western Conference playoff picture — Oklahoma City, Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers.
"We've got tough teams coming up," said D'Angelo Russell. "It's going to force us to come ready to play and everybody to step up and do their jobs. I think it's a great test for us to be on the road, one of the toughest schedules in the league end of the season. It's a great test, great preparation going into the playoffs."
For Russell, for most of the Nets, it's a new experience they're embracing.
"Speaking for myself, I've never been in this playoff hunt knowing that every game matters," said Russell. "I've only been in situations where we knew the season was kind of over with 20 games left. It's definitely a different vibe. Looking forward to it though. This is what it's about."
At 36-33, Brooklyn has already won eight more games than it did all of last season. It's night and day from the 20-win campaign of just two years ago.
"I keep saying that we’re ahead of schedule," said Atkinson. "It wasn’t, if you talk about the plan, and when the plan was, that wasn’t in the cards to be in this battle right now. This group surprised me, to be honest with you. They’ve played above expectations. So yeah, it’s a good feeling, but now it’s a nervous and an anxious feeling, because now we’ve got this new goal, this new thing with the playoffs. That’s kind of a spark, a welcomed surprise. But it answers pressure sooner than I thought it was going to come.”
DINWIDDIE: DIFFERENCE-MAKER
In his sixth game back after missing a month due to thumb surgery, Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets with 19 points against Detroit on Monday night. Dinwiddie has scored in double figures in all six games, but he's clearly picking up speed as he goes. In the two games prior, Dinwiddie went for 28 points against Cleveland and 23 against Atlanta.
Over the last four games, Dinwiddie is averaging 21.5 points while shooting 51.9 percent overall and 40.0 percent from 3-point range, plus 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.
"He's a difference maker," said Atkinson before Monday's game. 'Even watching our two games against Detroit, he changes the game. Individual exploits. I think his pick and roll defense and his defensive ability too, his size, all that stuff, the whole package. He's a difference-maker for us. It's huge having him back."
ABOUT THE THUNDER
The Thunder (41-26) are fourth in the Western Conference, a game behind the rising Rockets. They have lost six of their last nine, due largely to a four-game losing streak shortly after the All-Star break. Paul George is the NBA's second-leading scorer (28.2 ppg) and Russell Westbrook leads in assists (10.5). The duo is also first (George, 2.3) and third (Westbrook, 2.0) in the league in steals. The Thunder are first in team steals (9.8) and have the NBA's No. 4 defensive rating (105.7).