The Nets play today at 1 o’clock in the Meadowlands against Milwaukee. That’s the Nets. The New Jersey Nets. Remember them? Big, tall, sweaty guys? Really stunk in November? Were playing great when this just-completed long break hit?
It has been a while since the Nets last played. Hey, when they played last, many were plotting Winthrop’s path to the Final Four. The Nets had dismantled Portland, Milwaukee and Orlando when the schedule brought five full days off. The break ended yesterday. Now the Nets hope above all that whatever it was they had, they haven’t lost it.
“It is a concern, but I think we as a team realize it and we have to go out and make even more of a point mentally to go and come out with focused energy right from the beginning,” stressed Keith Van Horn.
The matinee start has all sorts of implications. The Nets (27-36) hope to overtake the Bucks (31-34), Celtics (28-36, played last night) and Magic (31-34, also played last night) and land in the eighth spot.
With games dwindling to a precious few, each one is important, every edge is big. The Nets already have dumped the Bucks twice. A victory today would give a tie-breaker edge, should it ever come to that.
“We definitely have to think that way. If we don’t, it’s stupid,” offered Kendall Gill, who — given the week’s events that included Jayson Williams’ fractured foot — provided a minor scare when he bumped his right knee during a scrimmage, limped a bit then returned with assurances of health, which means the major surgery could be any day.
“I’m not concerned about the layoff,” Gill continued. “Practice was stale today because we’re sick of playing each other instead of in a game. But everything was there; the offense was working, the defense. We’re just ready to play again.”
Especially against Milwaukee, whom they’ve handled with stunning ease in two previous meetings. Eight days ago in Milwaukee, the Nets riveted the Bucks by 28 points. On Dec. 8, they toppled the Bucks by 17. Equally impressive is how the Nets have handled the Bucks’ Big 3 in the two games: Glenn Robinson had 37 points, Ray Allen 30 and Sam Cassell 18.
“We’re just playing great defense against them,” Stephon Marbury theorized. “And we’re putting them in a situation where they have to play defense. They’re concentrating more on defending as opposed to going out and having big nights like they usually do. I don’t think we do anything different. We just make them play defense. It’s hard for them to really get their games going when they’re playing catch-up half the time.”
