The Nets have gone from road warriors to road worn.
And they will be more than happy to finally see home.
“Ain’t nothing like going home to your bed, man,” Day’Ron Sharpe said. “Hotels [are] nice, but they don’t beat your own bed. You’ve got your own imprint in it, just the nice coziness. I’m just ready to get back in my bed, for real.”
The same sentiment applied to Sharpe’s teammates, who dragged through a six-game Western Conference road trek.
It was not only their longest of the season but one shy of the longest in the league.
While the road is good for bonding, the Nets are happy to finally put the toughest part of their slate behind them and enter a four-game homestand.
“Yeah, it’s the happy medium,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “That connecting and being together is important. We had opportunities to go on walks or do these activities and dinners and meals that’s good for the group. Obviously what’s most important for all of us, it’s our families and loved ones, and it’s always good to go back to them and have that. That mix is important. Now we’re going home and everybody’s going to feel great to sleep in their own bed and then rest and go back at it.
“We’re just past that halfway point, and getting better doesn’t stop right now. We have to have high standards. These guys have been amazing with it, and the high standards are getting better. So, if you’ve gotten better, can you sustain? Can you even get better? And that’s what we’ve got to do as an organization, and also a coaching staff, me first is to hold them accountable to get better. And those are the wins we’re looking for right now.”
While some tank-happy fans may bemoan every victory, the Nets are clearly trying to win.
And that should get easier, having played 26 of their first 43 games on the road. That’s the most in the NBA, with Atlanta second at two dozen.
But now conversely they’ll have a league-high 24 of their final 39 at home, hosting a back-to-back Tuesday against the Knicks and former teammate Mikal Bridges, then Wednesday versus Phoenix and ex-Net Kevin Durant.
“The games keep coming, and we have a tough back-to-back,” said Fernandez, who added there were plenty of lessons to be drawn from their Western trek. “Yeah, you learn from every situation.”
Like defending Nikola Jokic in Denver, or the cost of missing tiny details like when to give an endgame foul in Utah.
Or how to stay together after a humbling night, like their 59-point loss at the Clippers.
How to bounce back like they did at the Lakers, and the need to tighten up the pick-and-roll defense that burned them in Oklahoma City.
“Those are the things that we as coaches need to find on the film,” Fernandez said. “You find ways to be better. And these guys are ready to listen and ready to work, that’s most important.”
Which is easier done at home.
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Cam Johnson said. “Yeah, it is [easier]. So we’re looking forward to this home stretch. I don’t know what it is out of the next 15 games, but a lot of them are at home. So we’ll look forward to playing in front of our fans again, and getting playing comfortable at home.”
It’s 10 of their next 12 at Barclays Center, even that followed by a short jaunt down I-95 to Philadelphia and Washington.
While some tank-happy fans won’t like to hear it, the return home should be a boon for a Nets team that’s still clawing for wins.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we compete,” said Johnson. “There’s silly mistakes that we make. There’s ways we can develop our offense further, ways we could be on the same page on defense further. And we see all of them. It’s a process. But there’s a lot of potential.”
