With the league's third oldest roster, it's a given that the Nets would have an advantage in experience over most teams. And while nothing is guaranteed in the playoffs, that experience is the Nets biggest asset vs. the young and very athletic Raptors. The players on the Nets have played in 563 post-season games, started 511 of them. The Raptors, on the other hand, have played only 157, started only 39.
Or as John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes...
Career playoff minutes in the Nets' rotation: ~17,000. In the Raptors' rotation: ~1,600.
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) April 17, 2014
Among the Raptors who haven't started a playoff game are: Kyle Lowry, Demar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas.Tyler Hansbrough leads the Raptors with 35. DeRozan, who's given the Nets trouble, is not impressed with the Nets advantage.
"I mean, it ain’t like it’s rocket science," he said Thursday afternoon. "Everybody keeps talking to me like . . . it’s rocket science or I’ve got to know trigonometry or something. You just figure it out. You just go out there.
"I’ve been playing this game long enough, I’ve been in the league long enough, been in a lot of situations. So it shouldn’t be hard."
One inexperienced Raptor, Ross, has already provided the Nets with bulletin board material, saying a few weeks back that he wanted to play the Nets. Now, he has his wish and some of the Nets think he will have to step up.
"Ross asked for this, so first of all they’ve got to back up their words," Andray Blatche told reporters in Cleveland on Wednesday night. Mason Plumlee on WFAN Thursday added: "You get what you wish for. I guess we’ll have to see what kinda series he has coming up."
Meanwhile, Raptors Coach Dwane Casey and GM Masai Ujiri reacted to reports suggesting the Nets late season swoon was about avoiding the Bulls and playing the Raptors, saying in essence the same things the Nets said about Ross: be careful what you wish for.
- Nets confident they can beat division-winning Raptors - Rod Boone - Newsday
- We’ll finally find out if Nets are built for the playoffs - Justin Terranova - New York Post
- Van Gundy: Nets sandbagged to avoid drawing Bulls - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Playoff glance: Few upsets likely in NBA’s opening round - Fred Kerber - New York Post
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Without Knicks’ shadow, Nets can stake claim to city - Steve Serby - New York Post
- Notebook: Ross' diss, Hooters and merch - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Matchups: Brooklyn Nets vs. Toronto Raptors - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Eastern Conference Playoffs First Round (Video) - Bruce Bowen - ESPN
- Weird, wild stuff - Devin Kharpertian - ESPN
- NBA: Coast to Coast -- Playoff opening-round storylines (Video) - J.A. Adande & Israel Gutierrez - ESPN
- Paul Pierce defies age, defenses for Nets - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Nets’ three keys vs. Toronto - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- NBA Playoffs: Brooklyn Nets have edge in froncourt, but Raptors backcourt could present problems - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
- Nets need more from Deron Williams against Kyle Lowry, Raptors in playoffs - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
- Nets Over Raptors In 6 Games - Steve Lichtenstein - WFAN
- For the Nets, the Playoffs. For the Knicks, a Reckoning - WNYC
- NBA playoffs? It ‘ain’t rocket science,’ says Raptors’ DeRozan - Doug Smith - Toronto Star
- Nets still ladened with heavy burden of title hopes: Feschuk - Dave Feschuk - Toronto Star
- Nets motivated by Raptors' Terrence Ross comments about Brooklyn - Ryan Wolstat - Toronto Sun
- Raptors coach, GM shrug off Nets tank talk - Mike Ganter - Toronto Sun
- Raptors' Lowry thrives in N.Y. spotlight - Ryan Wolstat - Toronto Sun
- Toronto Raptors vs. Brooklyn Nets: Separating fact from fiction - Eric Koreen - National Post
- ‘Whatever’: Toronto Raptors aren’t too worried about all the chatter about preferred playoff opponents - Eric Koreen - National Post
- Toronto Raptors’ Amir Johnson, Brooklyn Nets’ Paul Pierce a key matchup in opening round - Eric Koreen - National Post
- Toronto Raptors coach Casey to Nets: Be careful what you wish for - Lori Ewing - CP