By their standards, the Brooklyn Nets are absolutely scorching.
On Tuesday night, the Nets established their longest winning streak of the season at three games after a 141-118 demolition of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Not a single Brooklyn baller scored 20 or more points in the win, but eight different players recorded double-digit outputs.
It was the most points recorded by a team without a 20-point scorer since the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Miami Heat 148-80 in 1991. Mark Price and John Battle shared the game high of 18 points that night.
The rout of Philadelphia proved to be the Nets’ 10th win since March 1, a remarkable stat considering they won just nine games in their first 58 tries.
There is little consolation for the Nets being this low in the standings, though. Due to the famous trade in 2013 that sent Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to Brooklyn, the Boston Celtics own the Nets’ first-round pick that could very well be the No. 1 overall selection depending on how the pingpong balls fall.
However, there is one bright spot. Much of Brooklyn’s recent success can be derived from the return of Jeremy Lin, who missed 44 games due to hamstring problems.
During his absence, a struggling Nets frontcourt was forced to roll out a combination of Spencer Dinwiddie and rookie Isaiah Whitehead, who had a difficult time facilitating an offense largely predicated on Brook Lopez.
Once Lin came back on Feb. 24, he provided exactly what Brooklyn expected from him when it signed him during the offseason.
In the 21 games since his return, he has averaged 13.6 points, 4.7 assists and just under one steal per game.
His aggression and ability to cut to the hoop has opened up countless scoring opportunities, especially for Lopez.
The big man has scored 23 or more points 12 times in the last 21 games compared to 19 in his first 50.
With stability returned at the 1 in the form of a healthy Lin, a tumultuous offseason that still needs to bring about plenty of change does not seem as daunting with a healthy point guard turning Brooklyn into a competitive team down the stretch.
