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No easy wins for Nets in final week of regular season

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Utah Jazz guard Talen Horton-Tucker (0) defends Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 2, 2023, in New York.
AP Photo/John Munson

On paper, the Nets have a pretty easy schedule in the final week of the season, but as Sunday proved there is no such thing as an easy game for Brooklyn. 

The Nets barely skirted past the Utah Jazz on Sunday and last week trailed the basement-dwelling Houston Rockets for a better part of their Wednesday matchup in Brooklyn. While the toughest team they’ll face down the stretch may be the Philadelphia 76ers, a potential playoff preview, in the final game of the regular season, there are no guaranteed wins ahead. 

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“This week becomes very interesting just because Minnesota is coming in to play for a lot,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters on Sunday night. “A game that’s going to take a lot for us to play well and to beat those dudes. We’re going to take that game very seriously, line up just like we did tonight — our starters almost played 20 minutes in the first half — so we’ll take that same approach. We’ll try to win a basketball game, we’ll deal with the repercussions after that. But we’re going to try to win a basketball game.”

Brooklyn still hasn’t locked up a playoff spot just yet and there is a slim chance they could still slip into a play-in-round spot. The Nets are sixth in the Eastern Conference and hold a two-game lead over the Miami Heat.

The Nets also own the tiebreaker with Miami if it came down to it after their big win over the Heat on March 25. 

“We know where we are,” Nic Claxton told The Athletic after Sunday’s game. “We know every game is extremely important so just taking it game by game.”

The Nets will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday followed by a quick turnaround on Wednesday to face the Detroit Pistons in the Motor City. Brooklyn returns back to Barclays Center to close out the season on Friday and Sunday with games against the Orlando Magic and Sixers. 

Mikal Bridges named Eastern Conference Player of the Week 

Nets star Mikal Bridges was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week by the NBA on Monday following a stretch where he averaged 33.0 points (third among Eastern Conference players), 5.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 38.3 minutes per game, while shooting 50.0% from the field. 

Bridges also shot 45.5% from three-point range during that span as the Nets went 3-0. 

For more Nets coverage, visit amNY.com and our affiliate site at TheBrooklynGame.com

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