Girish Mahajan (Editor)

2013–14 Brooklyn Nets season

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Head coach
  
Jason Kidd

Owner(s)
  
Mikhail Prokhorov

Record
  
44–38 (.537)

General manager
  
Billy King

Arena
  
Barclays Center

2013–14 Brooklyn Nets season

Place
  
Division: 2nd (Atlantic) Conference: 6th (Eastern)

The 2013–14 Brooklyn Nets season was the franchise's 47th season, its 38th in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and its 2nd season playing in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

Contents

After making the playoffs for the first time in six years during the 2012–13 season, the Nets had a busy offseason which featured the hiring of Jason Kidd (who played for the then-New Jersey Nets from 2001–08) as the head coach. The Nets also traded Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, and three future draft picks to the Celtics for all-stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, along with Jason Terry. These transactions led to the Nets having the largest payroll in the NBA, and high expectations heading into the season.

October–November

The Nets' season began on October 30 with a 94–98 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In their home opener at the Barclays Center, the Nets defeated the Miami Heat, 101–100, on November 1. On November 3, the Nets lost to the Orlando Magic, being downed 1–2 in the regular season. The Nets had defeated the Utah Jazz in a blowout on November 5. In the first game of back-to-backs on November 8, the Nets lost to the Washington Wizards in overtime, 108–112. On November 9, the Nets lost the second game of the back-to-back to the Indiana Pacers, 91–96. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Nets in a blowout on November 13, losing three straight games.

On November 15, the Nets defeated the Phoenix Suns 100–98 in overtime. The Nets lost on November 16 to the Los Angeles Clippers, 103–110. In their game against the Clippers, the Nets were without four of their starters, due to injuries. The Nets lost against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 18. On November 20, the Nets were defeated 91–95 by the Charlotte Bobcats. On November 22, the Nets lost four straight following a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. After losing to the Detroit Pistons, their losing streak stretched to five on November 24.

On November 26, the Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors, 102–100, to end their losing streak. However, the Nets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on November 27. On November 29, the Nets lost against the Houston Rockets. At the end of the month, the Nets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies with a 5–12 record.

December

The Nets would begin the month of December with a blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets. On December 5, the Nets would continue their losing ways in another blowout loss against the New York Knicks. On December 7, the Nets would defeat the Milwaukee Bucks. Then, the Nets would defeat the Boston Celtics on December 10. The Nets would extend their winning streak to three following a win against the Clippers on December 12. Their brief winning streak would come to an end on December 13 against the Pistons.

On December 16, the Nets easily defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in a 36-point blowout. In that game, Joe Johnson, managed to shoot eight three-point field goals in the third quarter to tie an official NBA record. The Nets would lose against the Wizards on December 18. Two days later, the Nets would lose to the 76ers in overtime, 120–121. The 76ers would win the game with a buzzer beater by Evan Turner. On December 21, Brook Lopez was sidelined with a fractured right foot that ended his season.

On December 23, the Nets would lose their third straight game to the Pacers. Then, the Nets would lose again on Christmas, this time to the Chicago Bulls, stretching their losing streak to four. On December 27, the Nets would finally win by defeating the Bucks. Following the win, the Nets would lose against the Pacers on December 28. To end the calendar year, the Nets would lose against the San Antonio Spurs for the second December 31 in a row. Heading into 2014, the Nets were 10–21.

January

At the turn of the calendar, the Nets' misfortunes had been lifted on January 2 when Joe Johnson shot a buzzer beater against the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the game 95–93. The Nets would defeat the Cavaliers, 89–82, on January 4. To win their third straight game, the Nets defeated the Atlanta Hawks. On January 8, the Nets then ended the Golden State Warriors' 10-game winning streak, becoming 4–0 in 2014. Then, on January 10, the Nets' winning streak extended to 5 games after a victory against the Heat in double overtime.

The Nets would suffer their first defeat in 2014 to the Raptors on January 11. On January 16, the Nets would defeat the Hawks in The O2 Arena in London. The Nets would head to Madison Square Garden and blowout their cross-city rival, the Knicks, on January 20. On January 21, the Nets would the Magic, winning their third straight game. The Nets would then defeat the Dallas Mavericks by one point, and going 9–1 in 2014. On January 26, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett would go back to Boston and win their fifth straight game.

The Nets would suffer their second loss of the year on January 27 to the Raptors, losing by one point (103–104). As the month was coming to a close, the Nets would be handed a third loss by the Thunder on January 31. At the end of the month, the Nets' record would be 20–24.

February

In their first game of the month, the Nets would lose by one point (96–97) to the Pacers on February 1. On February 3, the Nets defeated the 76ers, 108–102. On the same day, Kidd would be named the Coach of the Month for January, when he coached the team to have a 10–3 record in that month. Playing an injury-plagued Spurs on February 6, the Nets defeated San Antonio. On February 7, the Nets were defeated by the Pistons. With the Nets' rookie, Mason Plumlee, leading the team for the night, Brooklyn defeated the New Orleans Pelicans on February 9.

On February 12, the Nets defeated the Bobcats behind Pierce's 25 points. The Nets were defeated by 16 points against the Bulls on February 13. Representing the Nets, Johnson had scored 5 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist at the 2014 NBA All-Star Game. Playing the Jazz in the EnergySolutions Arena, the Nets defeated Utah on February 19, 105–99. On February 22, the Nets lost to the Warriors.

The Nets won against the Lakers on February 23, 108–102. In that game, Jason Collins made his debut as the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of four major North American pro sports leagues. On February 26, the Nets were defeated in a 44-point blowout against the Trail Blazers. To respond to their humiliating loss, the Nets defeated the Nuggets by 23 points. The Nets would end the month of February being two games under .500, 27–29.

March

To start off the month of March, the Nets defeated the Bucks behind Marcus Thornton's 25 points. The Nets were at the .500 mark (29–29) for the first time since November 5 with a victory against the Bulls on March 3. Two days later, the Nets were above .500 for the first time (30–29) of the season after defeating the Grizzlies and winning their third straight game.

On March 7, the Nets were defeated by the Celtics, ending their 3-game winning streak. The Nets would bounce back to win in a back-to-back against Sacramento and Toronto from March 9–10. To win three straight games once more, the Nets defeated the Heat on March 12, 96–95, due to a bad inbound pass by Chris Bosh. The Nets' winning streak would end against the Wizards on March 15.

On March 17, the Nets defeated the Suns behind Williams' 28 points. To win their tenth straight home game, the Nets defeated the Bobcats on March 19, 104–99. On March 21, the Nets would defeat the Celtics in a blowout. On March 23, the Nets completed a season sweep of the Mavericks for the first time since the 1999–2000 season, by defeating them 107–104 in overtime.

In overtime, the Nets would be defeated by the Pelicans on March 24, 104–109. Playing in their third straight overtime game, the Nets would lose 111–116, to the Bobcats on March 26. On March 28, the Nets defeated the Cavaliers. The Nets would end the month defeating the Timberwolves and tying a franchise-record 13-straight home games on March 30. With the month over, the Nets' record would be at 39–33.

April

The Nets would end their 14-game losing streak versus the Rockets on April 1, extend their home game winning streak to 14, and clinch a playoff berth in the process. On the same day, Kidd was named the Coach of the Month for March, when he coached the team to have a 12–4 record in that month. The Nets would be defeated in a 29-point blowout against the Knicks on April 2. On April 4, the Nets won a franchise record of 15-consecutive home games following a 116–104 win over the Pistons. Brooklyn had defeated the 76ers on April 5, 105–101. The Nets completed a 4-game season sweep against the Heat on April 8, which would be the first time that a team would sweep the Heat during the Miami Big 3 (Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade) era.

The Nets would lose 111–115 to the Magic on April 9. On April 11, the Nets were defeated by the Hawks, 88–93. To avenge their earlier loss, the Nets defeated the Magic on April 13. The Nets lost by 11 points to the Knicks on April 15. On April 16, the Nets' regular season ended with an 85–114 loss to the Cavaliers. Following the loss, the Nets finished with a 44–38 record, being the sixth seed in the 2014 NBA Playoffs. It was widely suspected that Brooklyn's late season losses correlated with a preference for facing Toronto in the first round.

First Round

For the Nets, the 2014 NBA Playoffs began against division-rival Toronto Raptors. The series began on April 19, with the Nets winning Game 1, 94–87. The Raptors had responded to the loss with a 100–95 win in Game 2 to even the series 1–1 with the Nets. To take the series lead once more, the Nets came up a 102–98 victory in Game 3. In Game 4, the Raptors evened the series 2–2, as the Nets lost 79–87. The Nets trailed the series for the first time after a Game 5 loss, despite outscoring the Raptors by 20 points in the fourth quarter. After their disappointing loss in Game 5, the Nets fought for their season as they blew-out the Raptors in Game 6 with a 97–83 victory. In Game 7, the Nets managed to go to the Conference Semifinals when Paul Pierce blocked Raptors' guard Kyle Lowry for a 104–103 victory.

Conference Semifinals

Going on to the Conference Semifinals, the Nets were going to meet the Miami Heat, the very team that they had swept in the regular season. In Game 1, the Nets had lost in a 21-point blowout. The Nets would lose Game 2, 82–94. Knowing they would go 0–3 in the series if they lose, the Nets relied on the three-point field goal to defeat the Heat. In Game 4, the Nets fell 1–3 in the series by losing by six points in a game where LeBron James scored a playoff career-high 49 points. With the opportunity to take Game 5 to overtime, when the Nets were trailing the series 1–3, Joe Johnson had failed to attempt a game-tying shot, losing 96–94, and ending their 2013–14 season.

References

2013–14 Brooklyn Nets season Wikipedia