Here are three thoughts from the Nets’ 107-98 win over the Bucks Saturday night in Milwaukee:
1. After Marcus Thornton got into Thursday’s game in Denver in the first quarter, it was clear Jason Kidd wanted to see what he had in his newly acquired shooting guard. Well, if Kidd didn’t know already, Thornton showed him Saturday against the Bucks just what he’s capable of, knocking down four 3-pointers and going 8-for-13 from the field to score 25 points and lead them to a win in the final game of the circus trip.
Thornton has always been known as a guy who can score in bunches, something he proved even in what has been a down year this season by pouring in 42 points – more than any Net has scored this season – against the Pacers earlier this season while still a member of the Kings.
With the amount of offensive firepower the Nets have at their disposal, Thornton is going to get plenty of the kinds of open looks he got against the Bucks Saturday night. If he can continue to knock them down, expect him to stick in the rotation.
2. While one shooting guard went off Saturday night, another struggled once again. Joe Johnson finished the game just 2-for-9 from the field, and is averaging 11.3 points on 38.6 percent shooting overall and 36.6 percent shooting from 3-point range since the end of his mid-January explosion that helped propel him into an All-Star berth this season.
Johnson has gamely played through a pair of injuries, first dealing with tendinitis in his right knee that he admitted had him feeling like he was playing on one leg, and recently jamming his ring finger on his shooting hand. But the Nets would ideally like to get him back on track sometime soon as they enter the stretch run. A second potential benefit of Thornton playing well could be to lessen Johnson’s minutes to try to keep him as fresh as possible and allow his various bumps and bruises to heal.
3. It’s a sign of just how bad the opening two months of the season were for the Nets that even after winning nearly 70 percent of their games since the start of 2014, they still have yet to get back to .500. The Nets, in fact, have the seventh best record in the NBA over that time, going 18-8 after their dismal 10-21 start.
If the Nets can keep up that pace over the final 25 games – no easy task, obviously – they would still only finish with 45 wins, though that could be enough to get them the third or fourth seed in the pathetic Eastern Conference, at least once you remove the top-seeded Pacers and two-time defending champion Heat.
The biggest thing the Nets need to do, however, is make sure they remain inside the top six spots in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, in order to avoid facing either Indiana or Miami in round one. If they can do that, they’ll give themselves a good shot at getting to the second round and then taking their chances against one of the top two teams. With 14 of their final 25 games at home and 15 of their final 25 games against teams currently below .500, that’s a goal that should be well within reach.