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Brooklyn Nets Keep Playoff Hopes Alive With Win Over Orlando Magic

By Kenneth Teape

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38. Final. 101. 147. 88

Brooklyn Nets Keep Playoff Hopes Alive With Victory Over Orlando Magic

It wasn’t pretty at times, but the Brooklyn Nets were able to keep their playoff chances alive Wednesday night, defeating the Orlando Magic on the last night of the regular season. The Nets will now have to wait and see how the Indiana Pacers fare against the Memphis Grizzlies, as they need the Pacers to lose to qualify for the postseason. They did their part though in getting the victory, in large part because of Bojan Bogdanovic.

Unlike the rest of his teammates that have hit a slump recently, Bogdanovic has been playing some of his best basketball of the season. Tonight he showed up when the Nets needed him most, pouring in a career-high 28 points on 12-17 from the field. He lit it up from the perimeter, knocking down 4-8 from deep as well off the bench. He added three rebounds and two assists for good measure, as the Nets needed all 28 of the points he gave them in his 34 minutes.

While Bogdanovic led the way scoring wise, the Nets received solid contributions from their veteran starting lineup for the first time in a couple games. Joe Johnson and Thaddeus Young both scored 16 points, as Johnson added seven rebounds, six assists and one steal, while Young chipped in nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.

Brook Lopez was relatively quiet in his time on the court, attempting only eight shots and making four. He would end the game with only 14 points to go with seven rebounds, one assist, four steals and three blocks.

The Nets could be worried about Deron Williams heading into the postseason though. He put up another underwhelming line against the Magic, shooting a poor 4-12 from the field for 10 points to go with seven assists, five rebounds and one block. The Nets are going to need a whole lot more from Williams if they want to make any noise in the postseason if they end up making it.

While the Magic will not be making the postseason this time around, they have some legitimate building blocks that the Nets saw firsthand tonight. In the middle, Nikola Vucevic is easily a top center in the NBA. He does it on both ends of the court, as he can score with the best of them and is big enough to disrupt defensively. Against the Nets tonight he led the way for the Magic with 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block.

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On the perimeter, Victor Oladipo had a strong game for the Magic. He scored 19 points to go with two rebounds and three assists, looking every bit the building block the Magic hoped he would be when they selected him second overall in the 2013 NBA Draft.

The Nets were able to do their part tonight by getting the win over the Magic. They will now have to wait and see if they move onto the NBA’s second season by waiting for the Pacers game to finish.

If the Pacers lose, the Nets will be packing their bags for a first round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. If the Pacers pull off the upset over the Grizzlies, the Nets season will be over.

Next: Are the Nets closer to a title than the Knicks?

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