The Brooklyn Nets have been enduring a tough season to this point as they head into the Thanksgiving break with a 3-14 record that includes plenty of blowout losses. One of the accomplishments that Brooklyn could strive for was getting to the end of the NBA Cup, but after Wednesday’s slate of game, it seems that they are no longer in contention for going to Las Vegas.
The Nets were officially eliminated from contention for the knockout round of the NBA Cup after one of the scenarios didn’t go their way. Heading into Wednesday’s slate of game, the NBA announced that the Nets would be eliminated from the in-season tournament if the Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics or if the New York Knicks and Miami Heat won their games.
While the Pistons lost to the Celtics in a close 117-114 loss, the Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets 129-101 and the Heat beat the Milwaukee Bucks 106-103. While Brooklyn was eliminated from contention for the knockout round, they were going to have a tough task of trying to make it to the tournament through the wild card as they would essentially have to be the fourth-best team in the NBA Cup standings in the Eastern Conference.
The Nets, along with the Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and Orlando Magic, still have one game left on their NBA Cup slate against the 76ers on Friday, but it seems like that game will amount to being just a regular-season game. At this point, Brooklyn could play to be third in their group, but that would depend on if they’re able to take care of business on Friday against Philadelphia.
The Nets have bigger problems to address as they have to find a way to be more consistent winning games or not getting blown out at the very least. Brooklyn is still in the early stages of their rebuild and while competing for an NBA Cup title would have been exciting for the team and the fanbase, going to Las Vegas to get an in-season tournament title just wasn’t in the cards this season.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets eliminated for NBA Cup contention after Knicks, Heat wins
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
