The Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans Pelicans met in passing on Tuesday night. The Pels on the way up, sporting a 7-3 record in the ten games since their elimination from the In-Season Tournament, the Nets plunging into the red since a West Coast road trip derailed their season.
Brooklyn entered at 15-18, a far cry from both the 13-10 record they sported in mid-December and the vibes of that more joyous time. A blatant tank game against the Milwaukee Bucks, a dud against the Washington Wizards, and the only respite being a couple of wins over the historically bad Detroit Pistons all meant the Nets desperately needed an infusion of good basketball.