{"id":610419,"date":"2026-02-18T21:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/610419\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T21:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:51:15","slug":"with-29-games-left-heres-what-matters-most-for-the-nets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/610419\/","title":{"rendered":"With 29 Games left, here\u2019s what matters most for the Nets"},"content":{"rendered":"

All-Star weekend is over, and the Nets<\/a> (15-38) have 29 games left before another critical offseason begins, starting Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> at Rocket Arena.<\/p>\n

What they do with what remains matters more than anything they\u2019ve already done. Here are five priorities they can\u2019t afford to lose sight of down the stretch.<\/p>\n

MAKE THE REPS MATTER<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a difference between playing and growing. Egor D\u00ebmin<\/a> and Nolan Traor\u00e9 have already shown flashes of what they can be with the offense in their hands. The numbers reflect that. You can see the pace, the shot-making, the glimpses of real playmaking. But stats alone don\u2019t build anything. For young players, reps only matter if they come in moments that genuinely test them.<\/p>\n

That means late-game possessions that demand poise, out-of-timeout sets that have to be executed cleanly, defensive stretches where you must guard without fouling, and third-quarter swings when the other team makes a run and you have to weather the storm without letting the game spiral out of reach.<\/p>\n

If this stretch is truly about development, it has to be intentional. That\u2019s the kind of experience that carries over and ultimately builds real depth.<\/p>\n

KEEP BUILDING AN IDENTITY<\/p>\n

Head coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez has been consistent about it since Day 1, emphasizing ball pressure, deflections and making the other team uncomfortable. That\u2019s the blueprint, and his players have to prove they can meet that standard.<\/p>\n

Ochai Agbaji and Josh Minott were brought in with that identity in mind. Traor\u00e9 has shown he can pressure the ball at the point of attack. D\u00ebmin, Ziaire Williams and Drake Powell compete on the perimeter, while Nic Claxton and Day\u2019Ron Sharpe supply the force inside. The final 29 games are about finding out who can sustain that level when there\u2019s little at stake in the standings, and who can tap into another gear.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about who flashes it for a quarter or two. Identity isn\u2019t something you announce. It\u2019s something you repeat, possession after possession, until it becomes who you are.<\/p>\n

EARN WHAT\u2019S NEXT<\/p>\n

From here on out, the entire roster is under the microscope as the front office weighs who truly belongs in the team\u2019s long-term plans. It\u2019s about identifying things like who can close games, who keeps the ball moving when shots aren\u2019t falling and who can impact a possession without needing a play called for him.<\/p>\n

Some nights, that may mean extended minutes for the rookies. Other nights, it could mean allowing a young guard to work through a mistake instead of pulling him after one rough stretch. This isn\u2019t about chasing the right answer every night. It\u2019s about collecting meaningful evidence that will shape the offseason.<\/p>\n

The film won\u2019t lie.<\/p>\n

PROTECT VETERANS<\/p>\n

Claxton, who sprained his right ankle during Monday\u2019s practice, has already carried a heavy workload this season. Michael Porter Jr.<\/a> has managed knee soreness, and Noah Clowney has worked through injuries of his own. There\u2019s little value in running veterans into the ground in a season like this, but they should still be expected to maximize the minutes they\u2019re given.<\/p>\n

That means managing workloads with intention and being smart about rest, without letting the final third of the season drift into something that feels like a glorified open gym. The young core still needs veterans on the floor to for spacing, timing and defensive communication in real time. Fern\u00e1ndez can protect bodies while keeping the standard intact.<\/p>\n

EYES ON THE PRIZE<\/p>\n

The Nets currently sit fifth in the lottery odds standings. Position matters, particularly with a draft class like this on deck. There\u2019s no reason to pretend otherwise.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a difference between being aware of the math and letting it dictate how you coach. You don\u2019t build real habits by hoping to lose. You don\u2019t help young guards learn how to finish games by taking those moments away from them. The league is too good to treat development like a box to check.<\/p>\n

The objective isn\u2019t to rattle off 20 wins and mess up the odds. It also can\u2019t be sacrificing growth for the sake of ping-pong balls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All-Star weekend is over, and the Nets (15-38) have 29 games left before another critical offseason begins, starting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,306,248,6,671],"class_list":{"0":"post-610419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn-nets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklynnets","12":"tag-cavaliers","13":"tag-jordi-fernandez","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-nets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116093851185913830","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}