The Nets are coming out of the All-Star break with a daunting road slate, and without their star player, Kyrie Irving. If they’re going to reach the playoffs, they’re going to have to earn their berth down the stretch.

“We know we have a tough schedule coming up. Sixteen games on the road and we’re getting this is kind of money time now,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We’re going to have to play well to keep where we are and even improve. We’re going to have to play really well. We understand the schedule isn’t easy.”

The Nets, currently sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference, return from the All-Star break Thursday with a game at Philadelphia, a rematch of last season’s testy playoff series. Getting back to the postseason will take some work.

Granted, the Nets are six games behind the sixth-seeded Pacers, but they’re just five clear of the ninth-place Wizards. So it would seemingly take a terrific run or terrible collapse to see them finish anything other than seventh or eighth.

But following the news that Irving is headed to see a specialist about the same shoulder impingement that cost him 26 straight games earlier this season, the Nets are going to be shorthanded.

“We’ve just got to play with who we have. It’s not easy. It’s not ideal. But it’s the cards we’re dealt,” said point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who will be asked to continue stepping up with Irving out. “We’ve got to continue to put our best foot forward and do what we need to do to get to the playoffs.”

The Nets have 29 games left, with their remaining foes holding an aggregate .499 winning percentage. It’s not the toughest slate, but they are clinging to a precarious two-game edge on the Magic for the eighth seed, and Orlando enjoys the third-easiest remaining schedule at .464.

Being surpassed by the Magic would set up a nightmare first-round playoff matchup with the NBA-leading Bucks.

“Obviously we’re going to have a lot of tough games after the All-Star break,” Joe Harris said.

“After All-Star break every team picks it up a little bit, because they know it’s the home stretch of the season and guys are fighting for playoff spots, guys are fighting for placement, home-court advantage, whatever it may be,” DeAndre Jordan said. “So we know how serious that is. We just have to be able to pick our intensity up and hopefully surpass other teams, too.”

Passing the Pacers or anybody else won’t be easy. But the task starts Thursday, and is going to start without Irving.