The Nets are making their last stand. Perhaps they should start treating every game as such.
They finally played like a team whose season was rapidly spiraling away from them.
A team that knew it likely needs to win both of its consecutive games against the Hawks to keep its faint play-in tournament hopes alive. A team whose new coach had been publicly chastising his players.
And Cam Johnson played like someone who was cognizant of his previously diminishing minutes, determined to reclaim a role he had just lost.
The Nets ripped the red–hot Hawks from the opening tip and never relented, cruising to a 124-97 rout Thursday night at Barclays Center before the teams clash again on Saturday.
It was everything interim coach Kevin Ollie has pleaded with his team to demonstrate — more effort and fewer turnovers — and it was unrecognizable to what the Nets have produced in recent weeks.
“Our energy, our effort, those are things we can control,” Ollie said after the game. “I’m gonna keep saying that. … That’s just part of me. That’s my coach voice, that’s what I believe in. We’re just gonna continue to be the toughest team. We have to play like that.”
Their ambition to sneak into the final play-in spot, which would have been hard to take seriously with a loss, remained on life support as a result.
The Nets, who committed just nine turnovers, entered Thursday four games behind the Hawks for the No. 10 seed in the East, but will now enter Saturday’s rematch three games back of that last play-in spot with a chance to cut it to two games.
Johnson, returning to the starting lineup for the second consecutive game due to Cam Thomas and Ben Simmons’ injuries, paced the Nets all night, erupting for a season-high 29 points on a blistering 10-for-15 shooting from the field and 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
The Nets badly needed it — another scoring punch around Mikal Bridges — and Johnson needed it himself as well.
He was tenacious, playing as if he had a chip on his shoulder after being relegated to a bench role the first three games of Ollie’s tenure.
He brought the 17,284 fans in attendance to their feet in the closing seconds of the first quarter, splitting two defenders before a vicious dunk to extend the Nets’ lead to 34-16.
“It felt good,” Johnson said. “Just the way we played felt right. … All you’re looking for is rhythm. Rhythm and feel of the game. It slows it down for you anytime you’re in your comfortable spaces, your comfortable [starting] role, and you’re able to process quicker, more efficiently.”
The Hawks, who played their third game without Trae Young after he underwent hand surgery to treat a torn ligament in his left pinky, had not felt their superstar’s absence until Thursday.
They won their first two games without Young, crushing the Magic and Jazz by 17 and 27 points, respectfully. Dejounte Murray scored 28 on Thursday, but he received little help.
The win marked Ollie’s first at home since he took over, and the Nets improved to 2-3 overall under his tutelage.
The Hawks chipped into the Nets’ lead during the second quarter, cutting their deficit to just six at halftime.
But Johnson hit a layup and drilled a pull-up 3-pointer within the first three minutes of the second half, helping extend the Nets’ lead back to 13.
Johnson scored six more points in the third quarter, and the Nets carried the 19-point lead into the fourth quarter before subsequently ripping off a 5-0 run to start the final frame.
Though it was another mostly quiet night for Bridges, he finished with 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field.
His efficiency was a step in the right direction after his brutal shooting woes during the Nets’ road trip, and he was a team-best plus-30 on the court.
Dennis Schroder added 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He hit 5 of 7 from long distance, tied for the most he’d made this season.
“I just felt like we need that urgency from here on out the rest of the season,” Johnson said. “It’s unfortunate, but we dug ourselves a hole. It’s not what we think our group is capable of, so we have to fight our way out of that and maybe do a little bit extra. Tonight is just a start, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t follow it up.”
As Captain Picard famously expressed while battling the Borg, the line had to be drawn here for the Nets’ season. Can they draw it again on Saturday?
