They did it, Brooklyn did it! With their win over the Indiana Pacers, the Nets have secured a playoff birth this season. It cannot be overstated enough what an incredible job the front office has done during this rebuild. The dark days are officially over. Once you consider how dark it was, you begin to realize how impressive it is that it took Sean Marks only three years to make this happen.

During these past three years, Marks has had no cap space, nor was he in possession of his own first round picks. He continuously drafted in the 20’s, while consistently taking on more bad money to accumulate assets, and making minor moves around the margins to find the likes of Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert.

Brooklyn led throughout in this one, expanding their lead in each of the initial three quarters. The team constantly put in the extra effort to make hustle plays. They clearly wanted this game, knowing it would secure a playoff spot coupled with the Miami loss earlier in the day.

In an odd turn of events, it was the Nets defense that carried them in this one. Brooklyn held the Pacers to a 102.5 offensive rating. Somehow, Indiana committed nearly double the amount of turnovers (13) than their total free throw attempts (7).

The entire borough rejoiced with the victory. The Nets spread love last night. After all, it is the Brooklyn way.

Observations

1. Joe Harris, Athlete

You know by now that Joe Harris is a cold blooded assassin from beyond the arc. If you’ve been following along with the BBall-Index long enough, you’re aware he is more than just a shooter as well. What you may not have realized yet, is that Joe Harris is a sneaky good athlete.

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This isn’t exactly breaking news. Here and there Harris will have a rather thunderous dunk. Hopefully he can show the world some of his unheralded athleticism in the postseason.

2. Treveon Graham

Graham continues to get playing time as of late. Graham has made seven appearances in the last 10 games, with logging at least 15 minutes in five of those games. On a night where Kenny Atkinson decided it was best to not use Rondae Hollis-Jefferson or Shabazz Napier, Graham rewarded the vote of confidence by going 3/4 from distance to score 9 points along with 5 rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

3. Spencer Dinwiddie’s Passing

It’s easy to overlook this aspect of Dinwiddie’s game since he is an electric scorer in a 6th man role. However, Dinwiddie has good court vision and feel for how to properly move the ball to keep the offense humming.

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Questions

1. Did.. did that actually happen?

Ever think you’d see Rodions Kurucs hit a step back three?

Ok fine, his toe was on the line and it was a two. But I never thought I’d see the day, and here we are in his rookie season. Shows what I know.

2. Did you know?

Did you know Ed Davis is one of the best rebounders in the league? According to our grading system, he is in the 98th percentile for offensive rebounding, and the 99th percentile for defensive rebounding.

Don’t just take it from us. His rebounding rate numbers this season are as follows:

• Offensive – 15.9%
• Defensive – 34.7%
• Total – 25.3%

Davis doesn’t qualify for the leaderboard over at basketball-reference, but if he did he his rebounding rates would rank 3rd, 3rd, and T-2nd, in the whole league, respectively.

Prediction

Brooklyn plays Miami in the final game of the season. The night before, the Heat have to take on the 6ers. Miami will lose that game, thus being eliminated from the playoffs, and completely lay down on the second leg of a back to back against the Nets. That game will mean a lot to Brooklyn, as they control their own seeding destiny with a victory, and can secure the 6th place.