The Nets will get a break this Monday night when they play a makeup game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Nicolas Batum, Chris Kaman and All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge won't make the trip for the game that was postponed back on January 26th, due to the severe winter storm approaching New York.
Nicolas Batum, Chris Kaman, and LaMarcus Aldridge will not travel with the #Blazers to Brooklyn per sources. Will all stay home to rest.
— Amy Schwartz (@TheAmySchwartz) April 5, 2015
The Portland Trail Blazers have a transcontinenal inconvenience with the Brooklyn game. It's smacked right in between two consecutive home games. They have to fly from Portland to New York Sunday, then return to Porlland Sunday night. They're 50-26 and have already clinched the division title, so the urgency may be on a different wavelength than Brooklyn's. Nobody on the Nets' side is complaining. But nobody's celebrating either.
Meanwhile, Brook Lopez had some thoughts Saturday about his opposing center Monday, Robin Lopez.
"Ah," Lopez said, laughing. "Same old same old. I hate that guy and we'll probably hopefully destroy him."
Rewinding the clock back to the first month of the season -- November 15th -- when the Nets lost 97-87 at Portland with Batum and Aldridge both sitting out. Damian Lillard led Portland to victory by scoring 30 points and dishing out 10 assists. It was the third loss in what turned out to be a five-game losing streak, with the final loss coming in triple overtime in Jason Kidd's return to Brooklyn.
The Nets need the victory. Having been blown out 131-99 in Atlanta on Saturday, Brooklyn is now a half-game above Boston for the seventh seed, and a full game over Miami. With a loss, they could possibly find themselves in a tie with Boston and/or Miami, who now has Paul George back.