The Brooklyn Nets have been dealing with a lingering hangover since making their trip to China for a pair of preseason games against the Los Angeles Lakers in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Head coach Kenny Atkinson has noticed the fatigue and lethargy in his players, despite the team doing everything in its power to ameliorate the affects of travel.
“When we came back there was special protocol,” Atkinson said at practice last week, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “It wasn’t like we were coming back from Philly or something. We had a plan in place, put together by our performance team obviously, and we adhere to it. I think we knew this when we first added the trip that was going to be important, how we treated this week.”
Generally teams that play in China struggle to start the season. It was the Dallas Mavericks last season and the New Orleans Pelicans in 2017, both starting off with losing records during their first 10 games.
The Nets knew this and tried to combat it with a lighter workload in practice and plenty of rest for the players.
“It was not like this is a small thing,” Atkinson said Sunday. “This is a big thing and we had an approach.”
The Nets managed to get two wins against a full-fledged Lakers squad in China and point guard Spencer Dinwiddie knows the wins need to keep coming early in the season, no matter the fatigue.
“Keep good habits,” said Dinwiddie. “Keep working out obviously. Really try to focus on sleep. I’ve been a little under the weather, so they’ve put sleep at a premium for me even more so. Everybody knows it’s a tough trip but there’s no excuses, we’ve had plenty of time now before the season.
“It’s not like we came back from China yesterday. Just following the plan. Our performance team is one of the best, if not the best, in the business. Just listen to everything they tell us to do.”
Brooklyn will open the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, Oct. 23, playing five of its first seven games at home before embarking on a five-game road trip in November — hopefully having shaken off the rust by then.
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