SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Nets’ longest losing skid in over two years has brought them tumbling down the standings.
Now they have to make sure it doesn’t bring down their spirits as well.
The Nets had dropped five straight games coming into Wednesday’s date at Sacramento, their worst slump since Jan. 14-23, 2020. And it’s seen them plummet from their perch atop the Eastern Conference to now twice as close to the dreaded play-in as they are to first.
“We’re improving, but the reality is that we lost five in a row,” James Harden said. “The good thing about this league is you have an opportunity [the next game] to bounce back and feel good about yourself.”
The Nets have played hard lately and shown improvement, but not gotten results. They can’t afford to let frustration seep in.
After sitting atop the East as recently as Jan. 22, they entered Wednesday three games off the pace but just 1 ½ clear of Charlotte for the play-in.
“They haven’t dropped their heads because we’ve lost games. We’ve had a tough schedule with a lot of guys out of the lineup, and we can’t lose that connectivity and that energy and that spirit,” Steve Nash said. “To me, there’s no moral victories, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
With Kevin Durant, Joe Harris and LaMarcus Aldridge all hurt — and Kyrie Irving unable to play home games — the Nets have had to rely on rookies and journeymen.
“It’s getting a lot of our guys that haven’t had much NBA experience, playing on the road and being in the foxhole of losing five in a row,” Irving said. “We can’t lose confidence. We can’t be fragile. … There’s gonna be runs, highs, lows, so just being able to be resilient in that is just our focus.”
The Big 3 of Durant, Harden and Irving have still been together just 16 games, only two this season. It’s hard to believe, and something Harden tries to push from his mind.
“I don’t think about it because it hasn’t happened. So, I don’t think about it,” Harden said. “Every game I just think about ways to get better, ways to help my teammates and ways to try to win the game. That’s all I can control.”
The Nets can’t control Durant and Harris likely being out until after the All-Star break. And they haven’t sought to control Irving’s unvaccinated status.
With Irving eligible for just eight games after the break, unless something changes they’ll head into the playoffs — and maybe even the play-in — with no more than 18 games together in almost two regular seasons.
“Honestly I hate that I have to answer that question. We think about it daily. It’s not something that is short-sighted for us. We think about the long term and how well we jell together as a trio,” Irving said. “We know the energy runs through us, and when we’re flowing out there and we’re playing, James said it: There’s not a lot of teams that can be out on the floor with us that can match up well with us.
“That’s just the confidence we have in one another when all three of us are healthy and playing at a high level. … It’s definitely on our wish list, man. We just have to stay patient and just not lose that confidence.”
The Big 3 logged just 202 minutes together last regular season, and 130 more in six playoff games. This season they have just 32, but their 129.2 Offensive Rating and 21.4 Net Rating are a reminder of their potency.
But that seems so far away, mired in this slump.
“The challenge is for our spirit to remain high and for us to keep our heads down and keep pushing,” Nash said, “because when we do get healthy, if we continue to improve in these stretches when we move further along the road and we get those guys back, we’ll be able to be more formidable and competitive.”