The reason to feel optimistic about the Nets’ chances of sneaking into the playoffs is a remaining strength of schedule that is the second-friendliest in the NBA.
The reason to feel pessimistic is that 10 of their next 11 games are on the road, where the Nets have the worst winning percentage (.321) of any team still in the playoff hunt.
The make-or-break portion of the schedule starts Thursday, when something has to give: The schedule either will become more daunting than it seems (.456 remaining opponents’ winning percentage) or playing away from home will become less daunting.
The Nets open a season-long six-game road trip against the Pistons — the first of three opponents on the jaunt (Hornets, Spurs) that are at least 32 games under .500.
“We have to continue to focus in on our standards … and dig in even more for this road trip we have coming up because we’re still chasing,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said after Tuesday’s fourth-quarter comeback victory against the 76ers. “We’re chasing the people in front of us. So we have to have that hunger.”
The Nets, who were 2 ½ games out of the last spot in the play-in tournament entering Wednesday’s action, have embarked on five other trips of at least three games this season.
Only once previously did they take off following a victory — and never have the good vibes been this good, with three wins in the past four games.
“It’s my job to bring that masterpiece out of them every day,” Ollie said. “It’s their job to bring that masterpiece out of each other. So I see this, I believe in them. They’re going to continue to do what we need to do to win at all costs and pay for it. You pay for it by doubling down on the details. We have the recipe to win games, no matter who’s in the game.”
The Nets showed a versatile recipe Tuesday when starting power forward Dorian Finney-Smith filled in for an injured Day’Ron Sharpe as the backup center in an effective small-ball lineup.
He notched his second 20-point game of the season (first since Nov. 3) on the strength of 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
“Coach been asking us to move the ball side-to-side,” Finney-Smith said. “And I was able to get some easy looks. Guys were finding me cutting. Coach has been asking me to cut a lot more with the new sets that he’s been putting in.”
If the Nets take advantage of favorable matchups against the Pistons and Hornets, they should gain slightly more ground on the No. 10-seeded Hawks headed into Sunday’s first of three straight games against likely playoff teams — Cavaliers, Magic and Pacers.
“This is a clear example of all that growth, and all the trials and tribulations that we’ve been through,” guard Lonnie Walker IV said after beating the 76ers. “We stepped up as a team collectively, everyone did their job, and this is something that you expect when you get down the stretch into the last 25 games or so and you’re trying to make that playoff push.”
A March 19 matchup with the Pelicans at Barclays Center is the Nets’ only home game between now and March 29, which balances out an early-season stretch of 11 out of 14 games at home (7-7).
The second four-game trip won’t matter if the Nets don’t take care of business on the first leg of crucial games. For perspective, the Clippers played 11 straight road games in 2010-11.
“We’re doing a good job of playing together,” guard Dennis Smith Jr. said. “Everybody is sharing the cake. We are all participating on offense and defense. It’s about us playing a real team game.”
The Nets are averaging about four fewer points on the road (109.8) than at home and shooting a worse percentage from the floor (45.0 percent) with fewer rebounds, fewer assists, fewer steals and fewer blocks — and more turnovers — outside of Brooklyn.
No wonder their 9-19 road record is a playoff deterrent.
“This is our fourth quarter of our season,” Ollie said. “So we have to challenge each other.
“We can’t let no game slip, and we got to take care of business.”