NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets have had a tough season after beginning the 2023-24 campaign with a 13-10 record that gave plenty of fans hope for playoff basketball. Unfortunately, Brooklyn did not do enough after the All-Star break to give anyone confidence in their ability to make the postseason and the inevitable came.
Despite the Nets beating the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday 115-111, Brooklyn was eliminated from the play-in tournament because the 10th-seeded Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons 121-113. What makes Wednesday even more of a sting is that the Pistons put themselves in a position to beat the Hawks thanks to guard Malachi Flynn scoring 50 points off the bench.
In the end, the Nets and the rest of the NBA world knew what was at stake for them once the NBA detailed what the scenario was for Brooklyn to continue its season and/or be eliminated from postseason contention. As the league detailed, the Nets had to beat the Pacers and hope that Atlanta lost to Detroit in order for Brooklyn to still have a chance at the play-in.
In Wednesday’s game against Indiana, the Nets saw great performances out of Cam Thomas (27 points) and rookie Noah Clowney (22 points, 10 rebounds) that gave Brooklyn the boost it needed to beat a tough Pacers team. What happened on Wednesday was a microcosm of the Nets this season as it seems that even when they win, they lose in some other way.
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