Two teams on losing streaks, the Nets four, the Jazz three and fighting for draft position. That’s it.
Unfortunately, all Nets fans’ fear of seeing the Joker on Friday night came true. Nikola Jokic performed his usual tricks of the trade with an absurd statline of 35, 15, and 12, which led to a 124-105 win over Brooklyn despite a late game run. Russell Westbrook also turned back the hands of time with a triple double of his own, making history with Jokic as the first pair of teammates in NBA history to each record a triple double in the same game.
With all that being said, today is a new day. The Nets will be looking to serve revenge on a cold platter against the Utah Jazz, who defeated them back in December 104-95. This will be a winnable game for the Nets as they continue their ‘zombie’ era with most of their players out.
Where To Watch
Check out the action at 8:00 p.m. ET on the YES Network and NBA League Pass.
Injury Report
No Cam Thomas (left hamstring strain), Cam Johnson (right ankle), Bojan Bogdanovic (left foot injury recovery), Maxwell Lewis (left tibia fracture), D’Angelo Russell (right shin contusion), DeAnthony Melton (left knee ACL tear), or Trendon Watford (left hamstring strain) for the Nets. Dariq Whitehead remains questionable (concussion protocol.) Jordi Fernandez basically ruled out Watford and Thomas through the rest of the West Coast trip, but is hopeful for Johnson and Russell.
For the Jazz, Keyonte George (heel), John Collins (hip), Jordan Clarkson (left foot), Walker Kessler (rest) and Taylor Hendricks (broken right leg, ankle) will all be out. The Utah Jazz are on the back half of a back-to-back, so there’s always the chance of an addition and indeed there was by early afternoon. Lauri Markkanen (low back spasms), Brice Sensabaugh (illness) and Kyle Filipowski (right ankle sprain)
The Game
Since the two teams last saw each other, their courses have been similar. As the NBA Game preview wrote this morning…
Heading into a showdown on Sunday in Salt Lake City, the Jazz and Nets both are 2-8 since Utah’s home 105-94 victory on Dec. 21.
Along with seemingly being on a similar path to the NBA Draft Lottery this spring, the teams both find themselves shorthanded and on losing streaks — four for Brooklyn, three for Utah.
So, both teams sit near the bottom of the barrel, which means the rest of the season will serve as an experiment: what to look forward to in the future and of course draft position.
With five picks, four firsts and a second, the Nets are likely to have themselves a terrific NBA Draft night. Utah can as well but there’s a difference. The Jazz has only one shot at the historic draft: their first rounder. At the moment, the Jazz have the fifth best odds at Cooper Flagg, the Nets sixth. Three and a half games separate them. Do you quietly get tank bragging rights if you lose tonight?
So what’s the difference for the loser tonight. The winner will fall into seventh, with as Brian Lewis writes this morning, 32.0% shot at the top four and 7.5% for the top overall pick. If they lose and further solidify their sixth place odds, they a 37.2% chance of getting inside the top four and 9.0 chance of landing the top overall pick. Climb to fifth, notes Lewis and those improve to 48.1% and 12.5%. And there’s still 44 games to play and 25 till the trade deadline.
“To be frank, you’ve still got to get a little lucky. We all know that,” Sean Marks told The Post. “The hot-button topic has always been the draft. We all know we’ve still got to get lucky. At the end of the day, the Ping-Pong balls are going to drop a certain way.”
But back to the game. Despite the lack of healthy players, the Nets have had good production from those who have been available. One that stuck out two nights ago was Ben Simmons, who in the first quarter provided eight points and four assists, which proved that an aggressive Ben Simmons is a very good basketball player. If he can provide that same intensity for a larger amount of time, Brooklyn can get more open looks, which players like Tyrese Martin (19 points last game) and Keon Johnson (22 points) can easily capitalize on.
Player To Watch: Collin Sexton
Without his backcourt running mates in Keyonte George and Jordan Clarkson, Sexton will take over most of the ball handling and scoring opportunities in the backcourt. Sexton is having a solid season thus far, averaging 18 PPG on 48% from the field and 42% from three. I expect Sexton to have his hands all over this game, especially with the Nets’ condition as of now.
For those history nuts (and masochists) it should be noted that Sexton was taken with the final pick from the Nets 2013 Draft Night trade that sent four first rounders to the Celtics for the aging bodies of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, among others. The pick, which became the eight pick in the 2018 Draft, had been sent by the Celtics to the Cavs as part of the Kyrie Irving trade. Two seasons back, Cleveland sent him, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three firsts and two seconds to Utah for Donovan Mitchell. Whole lot of history there.
From the Vault
Since we’re talking about the Draft a lot around here, here’s the luckiest non-first overall picks of all-time.
So, remain calm no matter what happens tonight or in May.
More reading: SLC Dunk and SB Nation NBA
- Brooklyn Nets Game Notes – Brooklyn Nets
- Utah Jazz Game Notes – Utah Jazz
- A losing streak will end when shorthanded Jazz, Nets meet – Larry Fleisher – NBA
- Jazz take on the Nets on 3-game skid – AP
- D’Angelo Russell, Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas among Nets out Sunday against Jazz – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Nets GM Sean Marks has sights set on draft during West Coast trip – Brian Lewis – New York Post