Upcoming Games
Tonight at Magic: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday at Pacers: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday at Spurs in Austin, Texas: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday vs Pelicans: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 6:30 p.m.
Tipping Off
Currently in the midst of six consecutive road games, the Nets are 3.5 games behind Atlanta for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament, which will determine the East’s final two postseason entrants. Following their home game against the Pelicans on March 19, which will also mark the 22nd anniversary of the YES Network’s launch, the Nets will play four more road games in a row including one at the Knicks.
Nets Notes
Nic Claxton earned a double-double in each of his last four games, grabbing exactly 10 rebounds each time! Following a six-game absence caused by a right ankle/mid-foot sprain, Cam Thomas has returned with a bang – two of them, in fact. Between the Nets’ game in Charlotte on Saturday and in Cleveland the following night, Thomas totaled 60 points, with 17 of them coming in the first quarter against the Hornets. It was the second time this season that Thomas has scored at least 17 points in a quarter, with the other being his 21 points in the third on Feb. 3 in Philadelphia. Dorian Finney-Smith has knocked down at least three shots from beyond the arc in four of his last five games. DFS hit a trio of three-pointers in Sunday’s win over the Cavaliers in which the Nets attempted 35 treys and shot a season-best 51.4 percent on them.
Know The Foes
A first-time All-Star this season, 21-year-old Paolo Banchero is averaging 24.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG and 5.2 APG in six games since returning from an illness that caused him to miss a couple of games, including the last Nets-Magic clash on Feb. 27. The 37-28 Magic are currently fifth in the East, only one game behind the fourth-place Knicks but just a half-game ahead of the sixth-place Pacers. Indiana’s depth recently took a hit when guard Bennedict Mathurin was lost for the season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Sunday’s visit to the Spurs is taking place in Austin, Texas and not San Antonio because of an initiative called the I-35 Series. Interstate 35 starts in Laredo, Texas, near the border of the USA and Mexico, then it runs through San Antonio and Austin on its long road to Minnesota. The I-35 Series is part of the Spurs’ vision to purposefully engage and celebrate their entire following from Mexico to Austin. The red-hot Pelicans are 13-4 since Jan. 31, giving them the NBA’s second-best record during that span behind the 14-3 Celtics. At 39-25, New Orleans sits fifth in the Western Conference, only two games behind the fourth-place Clippers.
A Dazzling Fact
When Dennis Schröder scored 31 points against the Pistons last Thursday, he joined a small club!
The point guard became just the seventh player in NBA history to record a 30-point game for six different franchises, doing so for the Nets after previously flipping 30-burgers with Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Boston, the Lakers and Toronto. Four of the other six players in the group also suited up for the Nets in their careers: Gerald Green, Jarrett Jack, Sam Cassell and the only player in history to accomplish this feat with seven teams, Jamal Crawford. Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley and Caron Butler are the other two. Stay with YES and the YES App to watch Dennis menace opposing teams over the rest of the season!