| The Playoff Push Authored by Matt McQueeny - March 29, 2005 - 2:22 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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The New Jersey Nets beat the Charlotte Bobcats last night to sweep the season series 4-0. This win was coming off of a two game slide against Memphis and Minnesota. New Jersey still sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, seemingly forever 2.5 games back of the 8th seed. This is their last chance to stand up and claim a playoff spot. They are done with playing Western Conference teams after the forthcoming Clipper game on Wednesday and can focus on winning within their conference. No more crazy travel, no more dominant big men to contend with, just go out and win.
The Nets have 11 games left (6 home, 5 away). They play two back-to-backs, including the last two games of the season. They play the Clips at home, at New York , home for Orlando, at Cleveland, home for New York and Boston, at Indy, at Toronto, home for Philly and Washington, and finishing up in Boston. I will begrudgingly give the Nets a 7-4 record. Many of these teams are fighting for the same thing so the games will be highly contested. Plus, the Nets are relying on Vince Carter to score into the thirties every night in order to give them a chance to win. He might be great, but that is hard to ask.
There is no balance to this team on a consistent basis. They are a .500 team. That is why it is difficult to see them putting on a ridiculous run over the final eleven. This is seriously a one game at a time team. Your mind will run in circles trying to look ahead. With balance, you could expect someone else to come up big for them every night. Depth was the fuel for their former running fame. The transition game would open up leads and let them hoard away points. Now, they all have to hang back to help rebound, denying run-outs and forcing them into constant half-court sets. Therefore, they never pull away and are always in close games. And, if Vince is not hitting shots, they get no free and easy points on the break. It is for all these reasons a 7-4 record over the final eleven games is the best you can give them. 40-42 is not a terrible record, especially after beginning the year 3-12, but does it get them in the playoffs?
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