By the time you’re reading this, the Brooklyn Nets will likely be preparing for their next game inside the NBA Bubble. There’s little time for teams to celebrate a win with how the seeding games are scheduled. There’s just as much time to write about it.
But it can’t go overlooked what the Nets accomplished in their 119-116 upset win over the Milwaukee Bucks. This was, after all, the biggest upset in 27 years.
Brooklyn was an 18.5-point underdog in this game. That’s wager talk for all the sports betting enthusiasts out there.
Here’s some more for you:
This was the largest NBA upset in terms of the point spread since 1993, when Dallas won as a 19.5-point underdog against Seattle, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
That’s about as far as I can go with my sports betting expertise. For perspective, however, imagine a 1 seed losing to a 16 seed in an NCAA Tournament game. That’s what this was.
Imagine, as a department supervisor going into work to begin or resume work on an important project, and not having your department for the actual work. And, moreover, your title is an interim position. You’d find yourself having a bit of a day, wouldn’t you?
The Nets went into this game without, arguably, their top nine rotation players. It’s well-documented that interim head coach Jacque Vaughn is already working with a shorthanded roster for this NBA restart. Because of how tight the window for recovery time is within this truncated schedule, teams are doing their best to find rest for their key players.
Brooklyn, coming off a tough win over the Washington Wizards, decided to rest Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, and Jarrett Allen. All three players were key contributors in the win over the Wizards. They’re also Vaughn’s top three players for these games inside the bubble.
This isn’t an ideal situation for any team’s head coach to face the best team in the league without your core players. Furthermore, I’d imagine that feeling is doubled when it’s an interim head coach auditioning for a permanent title. But that’s why I believe winning this game was imperative for Jacque Vaughn as it pertains to evaluating his overall job performance.
Yes, the Bucks had almost nothing to play for, having wrapped up the best record in the Eastern Conference, and starters like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton weren’t in the game for most of the second half. That shouldn’t, however, take away from how well the Nets performed.
Brooklyn’s starting five against Milwaukee was Lance Thomas, Rodions Kurucs, Garrett Temple, Tyler Johnson, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. Temple, at 10.1 points per game, was the only Nets starter averaging more than 7 points per game this season. The other four had combined for seven starts all season.
That’s the unit Brooklyn out on the court against the best team, record-wise, in the league. And they dropped 40 points on them in the first quarter. They had 73 points by halftime. Their opponent turned over the basketball 19 times.
Nets general manager Sean Marks will do his due diligence before naming a permanent head coach. Fans will hear about the list of expected candidates – Mark Jackson, Ty Lue, and so forth. Vaughn, meanwhile, is getting the opportunity to show Brooklyn their man is already in the building.
Defeating Milwaukee was a remarkable effort from the Nets. It also shined a brighter light on the work Vaughn is doing with them inside the bubble. It’s a hell of a chip to play at the table during the job interview.
Do you think Jacque Vaughn should be the next head coach for the Brooklyn Nets? Let me know your thoughts below.
