The Nets are relaunching in the race for the “play-in”

“ Every match is really important for us “, says Mikal Bridges, aware that some meetings are even more important than others for his Nets. This double confrontation against the Hawks fell into this category.

In the middle of the week, the New Yorkers were still four victories behind Quin Snyder's men. Losing these two matches at home meant finding yourself six games behind this team ranked 10th in the East, the last qualifying place for the “play-ins”.

A gap that is likely insurmountable with around twenty matches remaining to be played. But the Nets, who experienced a terrible “All-Star break” comeback with very heavy defeats against the Raptors, then the Wolves, did not miss out. The first meeting ended with an easy victory (124-97) behind the good outings of Cameron Johnson (29 points) and Dennis Schroder (23 points).

While they had set the tone from the first quarter on Thursday (34-16), the Nets suffered another scenario for this return match. Still deprived of Trae Young, the Hawks limited the Nets to just 21 points and a sad 26% success rate in the first quarter. New York's response was spectacular: 39 points scored in the second quarter and eight 3-point baskets.

At the break, Mikal Bridges, whose team tied a franchise record for most field goals in a quarter without a miss, was already at 20. “ The first quarter was pretty bad for me, but we kept fighting. We were playing pretty poorly, but we were only down by seven points, so we told ourselves we had to stay in the game. And that's what we did », Develops the winger, author of 38 points in total.

The “tie breaker” in your pocket

“ We know they were going to come with bite, energy, and they made the first move, but there was still a lot to play for », Adds Cam Johnson, whose formation limited the Hawks to only 40 points scored in the second half. “ Strength. That's what changed, playing strong in attack, in defense, our cuts were sharper. In attack, we shared the cake, and something else: we stopped losing the ball », notes Kevin Ollie.

If Dennis Schroder and the others lost several balls in the first minutes, the Nets finished with 11 “turnovers” in total. And above all the victory which allows them to have the “tie breaker” over the Hawks (26v-34d) in the event of a tie. If the ranking has not changed between the two teams, the Nets (24v-36d) did a very good job.

“ You have to treat every match as if it were your last. We must continue to fight. We knew we needed these two big victories, it shows that we are fighting and that we must continue to do so during the rest of the season. It might not be perfect and obviously we won't win every game, but as long as we play hard and the right way, I think we have our chances. », bets Mikal Bridges.

His team has the opportunity to continue at home with a “back-to-back” against the Grizzlies, then the Sixers, before an affordable “road trip” to the East (Pistons, Hornets, Cavs and Magic).