In their past two games, the Brooklyn Nets displayed everything interim coach Kevin Ollie wanted to see by defending well and producing enough offense, resulting in their first winning streak in over a month.
Coming off two pivotal wins over the Atlanta Hawks, the Nets will go for their first three-game winning streak in nearly three months when they face the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night in New York.
The Nets have recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since beating the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz on Jan. 27 and Jan. 29, respectively. Before beating the Hawks, Brooklyn had lost nine of 12, including a 50-point loss in Boston on Feb. 14 that led to Ollie replacing the fired Jacque Vaughn on Feb. 20.
Brooklyn moved within two games of 10th-place Atlanta for the Eastern Conference’s final play-in berth after following up Thursday’s 124-97 rout with a 114-102 victory on Saturday.
While Thursday’s game was a wire-to-wire win, the Nets dug out of a 13-point, first-quarter hole and dominated the second half on Saturday. Brooklyn outscored the Hawks 54-40 in the final 24 minutes.
Mikal Bridges scored 38 points for his first 30-point game since Jan. 29. Cameron Johnson added 23 after scoring a season-high 29 on Thursday, and the Nets hit 15 threes on Saturday after sinking 22 in the previous game.
“We’ve got to get as many (wins) as we can now,” Johnson said. “We put our backs against the wall, so it’s on us to dig ourselves out of that hole.”
The Nets are seeking their fourth three-game winning streak of the season. The last occurred Dec. 2-8 as part of a stretch in which Brooklyn won six of seven games. The Nets have yet to rattle off four consecutive victories this season.
Even with some of the losses, the Nets are defending better as of late. After allowing 121 points, including 46 fastbreak points in Ollie’s interim debut in Toronto on Feb. 22, Brooklyn has allowed an average of 98.8 points over the past five games and has surrendered 38 fastbreak points in the past four.
The Nets are facing the Grizzlies for the second time in a week. They dominated last Monday’s meeting in Memphis by cruising to a 111-86 rout, as seven players scored in double figures.
Memphis is on a five-game losing streak, has lost 14 of its past 16 and its next loss will clinch its first losing season since 2019-20. Nine of the Grizzlies’ losses in this 16-game stretch are by single digits, including Saturday’s 107-100 overtime setback at home to the Portland Trail Blazers.
After Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins described Friday’s 30-point loss to Portland as embarrassing, the Grizzlies blew an 18-point lead early in the fourth and a 10-point lead in the final six-plus minutes of regulation. The Grizzlies were outscored 46-22 in the fourth and overtime, when they were 5-for-23 from the field.
“We responded from (Friday),” Memphis forward Santi Aldama said. “That was great. But I just felt like defensively, we weren’t there. Offensively, we were stagnant.”
Aldama and Vince Williams Jr. scored 21 points apiece, but the Grizzlies shot 36.1 percent overall, marking their third-worst percentage of the season.
Jaren Jackson Jr. missed his second straight game due to a quad injury and could be out again on Monday. Jackson scored 15 points in last week’s meeting with the Nets and then finished with 33 in a nine-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
