CHICAGO — Before any questions could be asked at his postgame press conference after the Nets’ 92-76 loss to the Bulls on Thursday night, Jason Kidd knew what the first topic of discussion would be.
“Back-to-backs,” he said.
Once again, the Nets came up on the short end in the second half of a back-to-back this season, dropping to 2-10 in those games this season, with eight more sets of back-to-backs left to be played.
“We fought. We were right there,” the coach said. “We had a couple of great opportunities, and we just couldn’t get the stop, or we had a great look with the ball and the ball just didn’t go in for us at that point.
“That’s just basketball. The guys fought and gave us a great opportunity to win on the road, and it just got away from us there at the end.”
With a veteran-laden team like the one the Nets have, it’s not surprising they would struggle to play on with short rest. But Kidd said regardless of the makeup of the roster, the Nets need to figure out a way to perform better in these situations.
“It is what it is. You have to play the schedule out, and that’s how they fall sometimes. You just try to give your effort and energy, and hopefully you can put yourself in a position to win.”
Despite the disappointing finale before the break, Kidd said he’s pleased with the way the Nets have performed over the past several weeks.
“We’re still in a positive mode,” Kidd said. “Unfortunately, we lost to Chicago tonight, and we have some time to think about it, but we have to regroup, get together in Utah [next week] and get ready for the second half of the season.”
After being 10-21 at the start of 2014, the Nets have gone 14-6 since, allowing them to move back into the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, where they are now in seventh place, a half-game behind the Wizards in sixth, a game behind the Hawks in fifth and 3¹/₂ games behind the Raptors for first place in the Atlantic Division.
“I think everybody’s comfort level, because this is a new group, a new staff, so everybody’s gotten used to the tendencies of each other and you can see that on the court,” Kidd said. “Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to win every game or look good every night, but we’re trying to fight to be consistent, and we’re starting to do that.”