Seven games at home, and Brooklyn started them off the right way. The Nets beat the only Western Conference opponent they’ll see over this stretch, the Portland Trail Blazers, on Sunday afternoon to open up a pivotal stretch of their season with a W.
Right now, it feels like we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. Kyrie Irving is back; the news, as it always does, has cycled on. Ben Simmons has shown enough improvement, even firmly starring as Brooklyn’s best or second-best player for the majority of the past six games, that everybody can take a deep exhale.