The Brooklyn Nets weren’t supposed to be here, you know.
After all, it was just 33 days ago the Nets blew a 20-point fourth quarter lead in losing their eighth consecutive game, dropping a 114-112 decision at Barclays Center to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Paul George‘s 3-point bomb with 3.6 seconds left.
At that point, Brooklyn was 8-18, 12th place in the Eastern Conference. They trailed the eighth-place Charlotte Hornets by four full games and were a half-game behind the New York Knicks.
The Nets were also 2-10 in the wake of the season-altering injury sustained by Caris LeVert in a Nov.