Resurgent Nets hit the road for two weeks

Brooklyn kicks off season-high six-game trip in Motown

March 7, 2024 John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Interim coach Kevin Ollie and the Nets are embarking on a critical six-game road trip that begins in Detroit Thursday night. AP Photo by Adam Hunger

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Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie was enthused by his team’s performance following its recently completed homestand at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

He also knows there’s a long road ahead for the Nets if they hope to seriously challenge for a postseason spot.

That journey will begin in Detroit Thursday night, when Brooklyn kicks off its longest trip of the campaign, a six-game odyssey that will keep the Nets out of our borough for the next two weeks.

Ollie, promoted during the All-Star break after the Nets parted ways with Jacque Vaughn, has gone 4-4 at the helm since taking over.

But Brooklyn won back-to-back games over 10th-place Atlanta last week to keep in touch with the final spot in the Eastern Conference’s play-in tournament.

It also rebounded nicely from Monday’s home loss to Memphis by holding off the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-107, on Tuesday.

The Nets (25-37) will enter Motown 3 1/2 lengths behind the Hawks in their quest to reach the postseason for the sixth consecutive year.

Owners of a dismal 9-19 road mark, the Nets went 1-4 on their last exit from Brooklyn, opening the trip with a 50-point loss in Boston that proved to be Vaughn’s swan song.

After visiting the Pistons (9-52), who have the second-worst record in the East, Brooklyn will also go to Charlotte and Cleveland for back-to-backs over the weekend before heading to Orlando and Indiana next week.

The extended getaway, which coincides with college basketball invading Barclays Center during conference tournament season, ends in Austin, Texas on March 17, when the Nets will “host” the San Antonio Spurs in a neutral site affair at the Moody Center.

They’ll be back in Brooklyn on March 19 to host New Orleans before going to Milwaukee two nights later to start a four-game trip.

Ollie knows that with 20 regular-season contests remaining, the Nets have to display the requisite desire to remain relevant in the playoff hunt away from the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.

“We’re chasing the people in front of us,” he said following Tuesday’s win over the Sixers. “So we have to have that hunger.”

Power forward Dorian Finney-Smith looked famished against Philadelphia, scoring 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, grabbing eight rebounds, delivering several key tip-ins and draining a quartet of 3-pointers.

“He does the dirty work,” reserve guard Lonnie Walker IV said of Finney-Smith.

“You need a player like that on almost every team in the league, so I think his addition, what he brings to the court in all aspects of the game is truly appreciated.”

Dorian Finney-Smith drove Brooklyn past Philadelphia Tuesday with his all-around rugged and determined performance. AP Photo by Adam Hunger

The Nets played the entire homestand without shooting guard Cam Thomas (ankle) and point guard Ben Simmons (back).

Thomas was listed as day-to-day prior to the team’s departure from Brooklyn, though Ollie seemed enthused by his recovery.

“He’s just getting better. He’s ramping up his workouts,” Ollie revealed.

“And then, [we’ll] keep leaning on our medical staff — and him also, because he’s a big part of this — to let us know when he’s ready. But he is ramping up a little bit more than what he was doing prior.”

Simmons’ potential return remains a question mark after a recurrence of the nerve impingement that forced him to miss 38 games earlier this season.

Brooklyn lost starting forward Cam Johnson to an apparent ankle injury in the first half against the Sixers, and backup center Day’Ron Sharpe was shelved Tuesday due to a sprained wrist.

Whether they remain shorthanded or get back Thomas, Johnson and Sharpe, the Nets will be dealing with a slightly more competitive Pistons team than they faced in back-to-back games on Dec. 23-26.

Brooklyn completed a home-and-home sweep of Detroit, which went on to drop an NBA record-tying 28 in a row before beating Toronto on Dec. 30.

The Pistons have gone 7-23 since their historically bad start, but are just 1-9 in their last nine games, including Tuesday’s 118-100 loss in Miami.

Cade Cunningham put up 23 points for Detroit, which lost its third straight.

Unlike the Nets, the Pistons are getting ready to get well at home. They will play nine of their next 10 games, including this opener to a six-game stand, at Little Caesars Arena.

“We feel like we’re much better than we were earlier in the year. That’s just with continuity,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said.

“We feel like the guys we have, as they learn the league and learn how to defend … that’s part of the maturation and process of developing young players.”

Detroit guard Cade Cunningham and the Pistons have been more competitive since enduring a record-tying 28-game losing streak earlier this season. AP Photo by Lynne Sladky

Mikal Bridges scored 29 points in the first meeting between the teams at Barclays, and Johnson had 24 in the return match in Detroit, handing the Pistons their 27th straight defeat, setting the single-season mark for consecutive losses.

“Nobody wants something like this attached to them, and the bottom line is it is my job. Coaches are graded on their records,” said Williams that night.

So will be Ollie, who is auditioning for full-time head-coaching duties as the Nets hit the road for a make-or-break stretch.

“This is our fourth quarter of our season, so we have to challenge each other,” he said. “We can’t let any games slip and we’ve got to take care of business.”