The Nets were right back.
We’re back within range of the play-in tournament.
Let’s get back to the team-like performance they promised.
Back to relevance.
The Nets defeated the Hawks 114-102 in the second leg of a back-to-back series between the teams at Barclays Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Nets enter the two-game set with a four-game lead over the Hawks for the 10th seed in the East and the final play-in spot, and likely two must-win games.
Now, after defeating the Hawks 124-97 on Thursday and rallying to win on Saturday, the Nets are just two games behind the Hawks with 22 games remaining and a favorable schedule ahead.
The Nets were quickly blown out of the building, putting their postseason aspirations in danger of taking a huge hit.
But Mikal Bridges wouldn’t let that happen.
His brutal shooting woes finally seem to be a thing of the past, and he performed like the star the Nets need him to be to seriously advance into the postseason.
Bridges scored 38 points on 14-of-26 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 from behind the arc.
This was Bridges’ most points since January 7th against the Trail Blazers.
The Nets trailed by as many as 13 points early on, but a 7-0 run at the end of the second quarter cut the deficit to 56-54 and tied the game at 59-59 a short time later.
They then went on a 15-2 run in the third quarter to take a 75-66 lead and never looked back.
In the second quarter, he made all eight 3-point shots, tying the record for the most no-miss shots in one quarter in team history.
The Nets then defeated the Hawks 30-18 in the third quarter, giving up the fewest points in the third quarter this season.
The Nets’ performance on Saturday had many of the same qualities as Thursday’s win, a strong sign that it is sustainable and could serve as a blueprint for the Nets going forward.
They shot an incredible 15-of-32 from 3-point range (46.9 percent) and held the lead for long stretches of the first half when the defense struggled.
And the Nets committed just 10 turnovers, an issue that has plagued them in recent weeks.
They dominated in transition and held a 15-0 advantage in fast break points.
After scoring a season-high 29 points on Thursday, Cameron Johnson picked up where he left off by adding 23 points on 6-of-12 field goals and 4-of-7 3-pointers.
Nick Claxton helped close out the game in the fourth quarter with an alley-oop finish off a pass from Dennis Schroder that brought Brooklyn’s 18,075 fans to their feet.
He had 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Saddiq Bey, who entered Saturday and averaged 13.5 points per game, scored 14 points in the first half for the Nets.
However, the Nets slowed him down in the second half, limiting him to just nine points. Many of those points were scored in garbage time.
Dejounte Murray, the Hawks’ leading scorer since Trae Young’s absence, added 20 points and 11 assists, but the Hawks’ offense was hot in the first half but fell behind in the second half. Ta. Latter half.
After allowing 62 points in the first half to the Nets’ sieve-like defense, they struggled in the second half, allowing only 40 points.
This was the team’s third win since interim coach Kevin Ollie replaced the fired Jacques Vaughn, improving to 3 wins and 3 losses.
It was also the first time since January 27-29 that the Nets won back-to-back games.
The Nets clearly accomplished their mission in the two-game set. Now you need to translate against other opponents.
