No clinch party for Nets in Brooklyn

Magic number remains at two after tough loss to Minnesota

April 5, 2023 John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 30 points, but the Nets and their fans weren't able to enjoy a clinch party at Barclays Center Tuesday night. AP Photo by Adam Hunger

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The Nets will head into Detroit Wednesday night knowing they can’t wrap up the coveted sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Brooklyn missed an opportunity to shave its magic number to one for clinching an automatic berth to a first-round playoff series at Barclays Center Tuesday, suffering a 107-102 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in front of 17,893 fans on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.

After reeling off three straight wins to open this homestand, the Nets (43-36) watched the playoff-hopeful Timberwolves (40-40) finish the contest on a 7-2 run that sent the sellout crowd home without anything to celebrate.

Making matters worse, the seventh-place Miami Heat (42-37) held serve by beating the Pistons, 118-105, on Tuesday, pulling one game behind Brooklyn with three regular-season contests left for each squad.

“Any time you get a win on the road, it feels good,” said Miami’s Gabe Vincent said.

The Nets hold the tiebreaker in the event the teams finish with the same record based on their three-game sweep of Miami during the season.

The No. 7-10 seeds in each conference will have to participate in the play-in tournament just to get into a playoff series.

Brooklynites had a chance to avoid worrying about that scenario if things went right here on Tuesday. But the magic number remained at two.

“There were a couple of opportunities where we didn’t keep them from the rim,” lamented Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn after watching his team surrender a whopping 68 points in the paint. “That was really the difference in the game.”

The Heat have reeled off consecutive victories and will be watching the Nets as they try to beat Detroit Wednesday before resuming their stretch run Thursday in Philadelphia.

Tuesday’s game saw the lead go back and forth 24 times before it was tied at 100-100 when Spencer Dinwiddie drained a jumper for Brooklyn with 1:24 to play.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards combined to make four three throws for Minnesota, which ended a three-game losing streak and remained in position for the Western Conference’s play-in tournament as the No. 9 seed.

Mikal Bridges and the Nets couldn’t keep Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves from snapping their three-game winning streak Tuesday. AP Photo by Adam Hunger

Mike Conley added a free throw and Edwards drilled two more around a pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers by Dinwiddie that bounded off the back of the rim.

“The second one I probably could’ve drove it, probably hunted the 3 a little too much,” Dinwiddie said. “The first one was try to get an attempt up just because we didn’t have any more timeouts left.”

Edwards finished with 23 points and Towns added 22 points and 14 rebounds for the T-Wolves, who were 1 1/2 lengths behind sixth-place Golden State in the West at press time.

Dinwiddie scored 30 points and Mikal Bridges had 24 on 9-of-24 shooting for Brooklyn, which squandered an 11-point second-half lead and, more importantly, its chance to move closer to wrapping up a first-round berth.

Now, the Nets will need their whole squad ready to rumble in Motown, where the NBA-worst Pistons, losers of 10 straight, will try to play spoiler again.

“Everyone, from what I know, (is available for tomorrow),” Vaughn noted when asked if he would give anyone a rest on the back end of playing on consecutive nights.

A late letdown in Brooklyn sent head coach Jacque Vaughn and the Nets to Detroit needing a win to maintain their slim advantage in the playoff race. AP Photo by Adam Hunger

NOTHING BUT NET: Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson each finished with 14 points for Brooklyn Tuesday. … After their quick trip to Detroit, the Nets will return to Barclays to host Indiana on Friday before wrapping up the regular season here Sunday vs. Philadelphia. The 76ers are currently seeded third in the East, meaning a first-round showdown against former Net James Harden is looming if Brooklyn can clinch the No. 6 seed. … The Nets split the season series with Minnesota, 1-1. Brooklyn beat the host T-Wolves, 124-123, in overtime on March 10.