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The Brooklyn Nets are heavy underdogs in their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Whether by seeding, betting odds, or public opinion, the Nets are a long shot in the eyes of everyone but their own.
“I don’t think we really look into it too much like that,” Joe Harris said regarding Brooklyn's underdog status. “Obviously betting odds and all, we’re probably not the favorite, but at the same time we feel like we can make it a competitive series.”
“We don't really care about that or listen to the outside noise,” said veteran forward Royce O'Neale. “At the end of the day, we made the playoffs. We're a great team. We'll do what we have to do for us to win.”
Head coach Jacque Vaughn recognized the underdog perception but spoke confidently about the Nets' capabilities in the playoff field:
“That’s the title,” he said. “But I think we put ourselves in a position to be the sixth seed. We earned that right to be the sixth seed, and we earn our right to line up and play on Saturday.”
That underdog title stems from Brooklyn's lack of a star player following the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. On the other side, Philadelphia boasts MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid and 10-time All-Star James Harden. However, Vaughn recently took pride in his team's collective approach to clinching the East's sixth seed. Mikal Bridges, who has emerged as Brooklyn's leading scorer while averaging 26.1 points per game, shared that sentiment when asked about his team's long playoff odds:
“Our biggest thing is just playing for each other, playing for one another,” Bridges said Tuesday. “We have all the confidence in the world in everybody out there. Whatever five is out there, we've got to play together and play hard. Just play for the whole 48 (minutes).”
That confidence against Philadelphia is a product of the Nets' playoff experience. Five of Brooklyn's eight regular rotation players – Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Seth Curry – have been to the conference finals or better. The other three – Nic Claxton, Royce O'Neale, and Joe Harris – have been to the second round. The Nets also have a veteran in Patty Mills who won a championship with San Antonio.
“That experience goes a long way,” O'Neale said. “Cam and Mikal have been to the finals. Doe and Spence to the Western Conference Finals. Myself, Joe, Seth, and everybody else to the second round. Patty, he's the ultimate champion. That's what we all want to be.”
Vaughn said Mills, while not in the Nets rotation, is the type of veteran presence who can make an overlooked impact come playoff time:
“I discussed this with the group the other day. I said, ‘Patty Mills, you’ve won this whole thing. You're going to have to help Day’Ron Sharpe out in a game, with his preparation. If he's going to play in this series, you’ve got to help him out,'” Vaughn said. “We’ve got guys that played in series and finals. Help a teammate out; whether that is how they organize their ticket requests or little things like that. How they mentally and physically get themselves ready, whether that's social media or no social media. So being able to help each other out; I definitely ask this group to do that with each other.”
The Nets will travel to Philadelphia for Game 1 Saturday as an 8.5-point underdog. The Sixers are a -800 favorite to win the series overall.
