Game Day: Raptors @ Nets

The Nets are fighting for their playoff lives right now, but there's still plenty at stake for the Raptors, who have yet to clinch homecourt advantage in the first round of postseason play. With Wednesday's win over the Timberwolves, the Raptors equaled the Chicago Bulls' record of 45-30 and regained third place in the Eastern Conference by virtue of holding the tiebreaker for winning the Atlantic Division. The Raptors cannot finish lower than fourth in the East, but need four more wins to secure homecourt advantage in the first round. 

The Golden State Warriors are the only NBA team with more wins within their division (13) than Toronto's 11 (tied with Atlanta) and no team has fewer losses within the division than the Raptors (2). But one of those divisional losses for Toronto has come against the Nets, a 109-93 defeat on February 4th at Air Canada Centre. It was a pair of former Raptors doing the most damage for the Nets, with Alan Anderson (22 pts, 5 reb) and Jarrett Jack (24 pts, 6 ast, 4 reb) leading the way.

It's an extremely small sample size, but the Raptors' defence has shown some positive signs during their current three-game win streak. Toronto has ranked fourth in defensive rating over that stretch (97.6 points allowed per 100 possessions), fourth in points allowed per game (92.7) and sixth in opponent field goal percentage (.429).

Every game from here on out is crucial for the Nets, who appear to be rounding into form at just the right time. Brooklyn has won five straight games heading into tonight, which has vaulted them to seventh place in the Eastern Conference and at the front of a five-team race for the final two playoff spots in the conference. Brooklyn enters play tonight a half-game ahead of Miami (8th) and Boston (9th), a full two games up on Charlotte (10th) and 2.5 games clear of Indiana (11th). This surge has also kept sixth place in play for the Nets, who sit just 2.5 games behind the Bucks.

The Nets' last win came on Wednesday against the Knicks thanks to a Brook Lopez game-winning putback with two seconds remaining. Lopez totaled 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocks for the Nets in the win to extend his impressive March run into April. Lopez has averaged 20.8 points shooting 55.6 per cent from the field, 8.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks since March 1st and is coming off Eastern Conference Player of the Week honours from March 23-29. 

Brooklyn has also enjoyed success of late through better ball movement. The Nets have racked up at least 20 assists in every game during their five-game streak and in 10 of their last 11 games (nine wins). It's been a metric of success for the 34-40 Nets, who are 29-15 this season when they record 20+ assists and 5-25 when they record fewer than 20 assists.