The Brooklyn Nets (7-18) began the 2025-26 NBA season with a seven-game losing streak, but they seemed to have turned a corner as they have won four of their last six games. Part of the reason that Brooklyn has been so successful lately is due to an easier schedule, but their improvements will be truly tested with the opponents that lie ahead.
“The 4-2 stretch has certainly been aided by the schedule, which was pretty brutal for the first six weeks of the season,” John Schuhmann wrote of the Nets for NBA.com in his latest power rankings piece. Over their last six games, Brooklyn has faced the Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, and Milwaukee Bucks, with none of those teams having a winning record as of this writing.
“That soft stretch of schedule is now over,” Schuhmann continued. “The Nets will play seven of their next nine games against winning teams, though they will have their first rest-advantage game (they’re the only team that hasn’t played one) when they host the Raptors on Sunday.”
Over the next week, the Nets will be facing the Miami Heat (14-12) and Toronto Raptors (16-11) at home where Brooklyn is just 3-10 on the season. The Nets have not played the Heat yet this year, but they have faced the Raptors twice already and Brooklyn has lost both games by an average margin of 10 points per game, indicating that they will have to play some of their best basketball of the campaign.
If the Nets are going to come out of these next two games with a 2-0 record, they will have to hope that their frontcourt of Michael Porter Jr., Noah Clowney, and Nic Claxton will be available, given how well the team has done with all three players in the rotation. “The Nets have now outscored their opponents by 5.9 points per 100 possessions in 350 total minutes with their starting frontline of Michael Porter Jr., Noah Clowney and Nic Claxton on the floor together,” Schuhmann noted.