Are Brooklyn’s lottery dreams turning into a nightmare?
The first Nets winning streak in a month — beating the Bucks 96-90 before a crowd of 16,834 at Barclays Center on Tuesday night — had the players cheering and their tank-happy fans in a collective meltdown.
In a tanking season that is all about jostling for lottery positioning, Tuesday’s victory was counterproductive.
The Nets — who had a chance to pull into a first-place tie in the lottery race with a loss to Washington on Sunday — have essentially forfeited all hope of landing the top seed. The Nets (20-59) are three games behind the Wizards and two behind the Pacers with just three to play — two of those against tanking squads.
Now the Nets have fallen to third and are suddenly in very real danger of sliding out of the top three altogether.
They enjoyed a 2 ½-game cushion on both the Jazz and Kings entering Sunday, but have seen that lead cut to a half-game on Utah and just one on Sacramento, pending the latter’s game at Golden State.
Holding on to third would give the Nets a 40.1 percent chance of landing a top three pick, and 52.1 percent odds of a top four pick. AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cam Boozer are all seen as franchise-changing prospects, followed by Caleb Wilson.
The Nets will host the pitiful Pacers on Thursday.
E.J. Liddell had a career-high 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting, despite not playing a second in the fourth quarter. Ben Saraf scored 17 points, while sparkplug Tyson Etienne — generously listed at 6 feet — had nine points and a team-high six boards.
“I talked to my mom after my first NBA start; couldn’t stop smiling. So the second one felt the same way,” said Liddell. “Any opportunity I get to put on this Brooklyn jersey, it feels special.”
Terance Mann (right patellar tendon/left Achilles), Noah Clowney (left ankle), Ziaire Williams (left foot), Nic Claxton (right fifth finger), Danny Wolf (left ankle), Michael Porter Jr. (left hamstring), Day’Ron Sharpe (left thumb surgery) and Egor Dëmin (left plantar fascia) were out for the Nets.
The Bucks played without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma, Kevin Porter Jr., Bobby Portis, Ryan Rollins and Gary Trent Jr.
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Cam Thomas didn’t stick with the Bucks long enough to make his return to Barclays Center Tuesday.
He got waived by the Nets because he didn’t defend or pass or take Brooklyn’s two-year contract offer, but Thomas got cut by Milwaukee on March 23 to make room for a 26-year-old two-way Pete Nance.
“At the end of the day, it really came down to contracts with him,” said Doc Rivers. “When we got him, we thought we were going to make a run. Then right when we saw we were not, ownership [decided] we’re just not going to take the extra salary on there, [hurting] our flexibility. And I got that, too. I don’t know all the stuff here, but with me, him and the team, I thought overall he was pretty good for us.”