LOS ANGELES – Philadelphia’s loss in Denver on Thursday night simply made the Nets making the playoffs official. It had already been something that was been expected since the season began, and had been all-but certain for months.
But now that the Nets have officially punched their ticket to the postseason, the focus will shift to what the Nets can do when they get there. And if they hope to have any kind of deep run in this year’s playoffs, they’ll need a significant contribution from Brook Lopez.
Lopez has put together his best full season as a pro for the Nets, earning his first All-Star berth and more than justifying the Nets’ decision to give him a four-year deal for over $60 million as a restricted free agent last summer. But the question hanging over both Lopez and the Nets as they enter the final weeks of the season is how the big man will adjust to the intensity of the playoffs in his first-ever trip there.
Gerald Wallace said recently that even after sitting on the bench through three deep playoff runs with the Kings early in his career, when he made it the first time as a significant contributor with the Bobcats, “the experience was just overwhelming.”
So, the question is, will it overwhelm Lopez? Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo doesn’t think so, precisely because of the veterans the Nets have like Wallace, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson that have been through the playoffs several times before.
“Having as many veterans as we do, I think they will talk to him about that,” Carlesimo said after Friday’s practice at UCLA. “He’s much better right now playing in the high-intensity games and high-intensity situations and end game situations. He’s more aggressive, he’s more demanding at the end of the game now. The last couple minutes of the game are different than the rest of the game. He’s better in those situations now.”
If Lopez was feeling any sense of pride or excitement in making the playoffs for the first time in his five-year career, he wasn’t showing it after yesterday’s practice.
“It’s great, but I think we’ve very concerned with our games right now, and we want to keep winning,” Lopez said. “We want to keep the streak going.”
Carlesimo, however, was happy for Lopez, who has slogged through several losing seasons – including the 12-70 nightmare of a year in 2009-10 and missing nearly all of last year with two separate injuries to his right foot – before finally seeing things turn around this season after the Nets committed over $330 million in present and future salaries to overhaul the roster ahead of the move to Brooklyn.
“Obviously for [rookies] Tyshawn [Taylor], Toko [Shengelia] and Mirza [Teletovic] it’s their first time, but for Brook it’s more significant because he is an accomplished player,” Carlesimo said. “He’s been a good player … you certainly wouldn’t say the Nets didn’t make the playoffs because they didn’t have a good center. They’ve had a good center for awhile. But it’s a real treat to be in the playoffs.
“Of all our guys, hopefully he’s the guy who appreciates it the most. I haven’t said anything to him about it, but hopefully he’s the one that this is really meaningful to.”
tbontemps@nypost.com
