On Saturday, the morning before the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors were set to tip off their Eastern Conference play-offs series that night, the Toronto Sun ran its best effort at a trash-talking headline: "Raptors vs Dinosaurs".
The dinosaurs, of course, being the, well, veteran Nets. “Garnett and Pierce are so old the Raptor had to ask his dad about them,” ran the sub-head.
Not bad, as far as good-natured newspaper ribbing goes.
Only problem is Brooklyn went on to win Game 1 away, 94-87.
These Nets may be old, and they may have lost the Atlantic Division title to Toronto, but the last four months have shown that none it will probably matter in this series. It might not matter in the entire Eastern Conference play-offs at large.
If the weekend’s play-off opening tips showed anything, it’s that the East feels surprisingly wide-open, and the team best poised to take advantage of that just might be the Nets.
While the Miami Heat managed to trail the 43-win Charlotte Bobcats as late as into the third quarter on Sunday and the Indiana Pacers actually lost to the 38-win Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, both at home, the Nets led the 48-win Raptors nearly from start to finish on the road.
It was an impressive display from a team that, despite being the conference’s sixth seed, look every bit the third favourite after Miami and Indiana. Considering the Pacers’ late-season slide, they might even be the second favourite.
It’s a far cry from the oft-cited 10-21 start the Nets found themselves mired in as the clock struck midnight on December 31, hours after they’d lost to San Antonio by 21 points.
They went 34-17 to finish the season, giving them a .666 winning percentage that would have trailed only Miami in the East stretched out over a full season. After allowing 106.7 points per 100 possessions during their 10-21 start (third-worst in the league during that time) they brought that down to 103.9 in the final 51 games (12th). They also went from scoring 101.9 points per 100 (18th) to 105.9 points (13th).
Joe Johnson and Deron Williams have figured out how to split primary scoring duties. Paul Pierce has become comfortable in his secondary offensive role. Kevin Garnett is anchoring a small-ball team defensive scheme that’s working.
And if it continues, the inconsistency and general weakness of the rest of the East just might allow for a reign of these dinosaurs.
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