Here are three thoughts on the Nets’ 114-99 win over the Timberwolves in Brooklyn Sunday night:
1. It just doesn’t seem like the Nets, no matter how much they win, are going to be able to catch the Raptors or Bulls for third or fourth place in the Eastern Conference, respectively.
On Friday and Sunday, the Raptors were in nip-and-tuck games in the final minute, and both times Toronto came through with victories, keeping the Nets from making up any ground.
And the problem for the Nets is all three teams have very, very soft schedules remaining. Toronto has nine games left, and only three – the next three on the schedule, in fact, beginning Monday night in Miami – come against teams with winning records. Chicago has nine games left, just one against a team with a winning record, and the Nets have only two of their final 11 against teams with winning records.
The Nets still trail the Raptors by two games in the loss column and the Bulls by one, and need to finish ahead of either team because they lose the tiebreakers to both. Because of that, the most likely scenario seems to be the Nets squaring off against the Bulls in a 4-5 series again for the second year in a row – only this time, the Nets won’t have a potential Game 7 on their home floor.
2. Before the past three games, Alan Anderson had scored double-digit points in just four games since Feb. 1. But Anderson has now scored in double-digits in three straight games after putting up 13 points and five boards Sunday, in what is a good sign for the Nets.
Anderson has been an unsung hero all season, a hard-nosed, gritty player who provides solid defense and the ability to knock down 3-pointers. For most of the past two months, Anderson has been missing, shooting under 30 percent from deep since Feb. 1.
But heading into the playoffs, the Nets need Anderson to be a viable option, particularly if they go up against a team like the Bulls in round one. Chicago has a physical team, which is the kind of environment he excels in. That’s especially true because if anything happens to Andrei Kirilenko – and something seems to happen to him every couple weeks – Anderson is the guy who will get his minutes.
3. One thing to monitor is the wear and tear on Paul Pierce, who is playing against bigger players every night while lining up at power forward. Pierce got off to a hot start for the second night in a row, scoring 16 points in the first quarter, but pulled himself out with two minutes to go in the quarter when Nets coach Jason Kidd gave him the option to stay in.
Why? Pierce said he was getting worn down trying to keep Kevin Love off the boards at both ends. If the Nets face either the Raptors or Bulls in round one, he’s facing a seven-game series against Toronto’s Amir Johnson and Tyler Hansbrough or Chicago’s Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson. In both cases, the Nets will have Pierce going up against much larger, rugged opponents. It’ll be interesting to see how he holds up under the strain.