Nets must lock up the No. 1 seed
Kevin Durant’s Nets are concerned with “the top of things,” but their eventual playoff opponent will be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
It’s important that the Nets lock up the No. 1 seed and secure home-court advantage. They are a game ahead of the second-place Philadelphia 76ers and three games in front of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks, but need to continue creating separation to ensure a seven-game series has Brooklyn’s backing.
Even if it’s a socially-distant crowd and limited crowd.
“We’re all aware of the standings, but I don’t think anyone is looking ahead or looking past games,” Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris said at shootaround Saturday morning. “We still want to win every single game. It’s not like we circle a game on the calendar in particular. I think every game has the same amount of importance. But we’re definitely aware of the standings, and it’s important to us.”
Standings are important because the Eastern Conference has three teams with title aspirations, then a grab bag of dark-horse playoff contenders. (Not contenders with a legitimate chance of winning a championship, but dark horses to give a team a run for their money in a seven-game series.)
Finishing first in the regular season is of twofold importance. First, it sets up a first round matchup against a worse team. Second and maybe more importantly, it means the Nets can avoid those title contenders — the Bucks and Sixers — until the conference finals.
Seven teams are vying for the same five playoff spots, and one of those seven will likely face the Nets in the first round: The Hornets, Hawks, Heat, Celtics, Knicks, Pacers and Bulls are all within arm’s reach of one another as the postseason draws near. Veteran teams like the Celtics, Heat, Pacers and Bulls could prove a tough matchup for the Nets in the first round.
Survival of the fittest will determine Brooklyn’s playoff opponent, but so will the league’s newest play-in tournament twist. Instead of one play-in tournament like we saw in last season’s Orlando bubble, there will be three.
The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds will play each other in the “Seven-Eight Game” to determine which team will enter the playoffs as the seventh seed. The No. 8 and No. 9 seed will also play each other in the “Eight-Nine Game.”
The winner of the “Eight-Nine Game” will then play the loser of the “Seven-Eight Game” to determine which team will make the playoffs as the eighth seed.
If the Nets finish first in the conference, they could end up playing the East’s 10th seed in the first round. The 10th seed in the East as of Saturday belongs to the Chicago Bulls, who are playing well below their expectations as a team with two high-level All-Stars in Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.
There are still 20 games left on the schedule for most teams, which means the standings are going to be in flux over the next few weeks. Nets head coach Steve Nash has been consistent with his thought process: It doesn’t matter what other teams do so long as the Nets take care of their own business.
It also might not matter what other teams do, regardless, when you have two former MVPs and 41 total All-Star appearances spread across one roster.
