Clean Sweep dissects the most satisfying win of the Brooklyn Nets’ season and looks ahead to two tough opponents looming on the schedule.
The Brooklyn Nets are at their best when the ball is moving and guys are passing up good shots for great shots. From the jump against the Denver Nuggets, the Nets were slinging the ball around and playing beautiful basketball.
Honest question…
How the hell do you stop this? 4 lightning-quick passes from all 4 of Brooklyn's perimeter players, leaving Denver's number 2 defense SPEECHLESS. pic.twitter.com/7LFAeA5aj3
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) December 9, 2019
The Nuggets refused to go down quietly, but Spencer Dinwiddie‘s heroics led to the best win of this young Brooklyn season. The victory was the team’s ninth in 12 games and head coach Kenny Atkinson’s squad is starting to gain momentum much like they did last season en route to a surprising playoff spot.
Of course, all of this success comes without Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert in the lineup. Reintegrating those players could lead to some growing pains for Brooklyn. However, there’s no taking away from the win over Denver which is undoubtedly the most fulfilling win thus far.
The Clean Sweep guys pivot from talking about a great win to discussing an upcoming test for the Nets. Although Brooklyn will play the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday for the 100th time this season, the true test lies in a back-to-back with the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers over the weekend.
Both the Raptors and Sixers appear to be legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference and stealing one game would be a major win for the injury-riddled Nets. In fact, up to this point, the win over Denver was only their second win in five games against teams above .500 without Irving.
Another wrinkle to Brooklyn’s matchup with Philly is that it’ll be the first time these teams meet since the Sixers swept the Nets in five games last playoffs.
There is plenty of intrigue surrounding the Brooklyn Nets this season and the Clean Sweep Podcast is on top of it all.