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After their best January in team history --38 years-- the Nets are making power rankers forget the first two months of the season or at least re-think them. Two power rankers have the Nets in the top 10, Matt Moore at No. 9 and Tim Bontemps all the way up at No. 6. Most of the others have the Nets in the upper teens. The lowest rank? No. 18 by Marc J. Spears, who had them at 19 last week and 17 two weeks ago!
John Schuhmann, NBA.com (11)
Just like that, after surviving a couple of late-game scares from the Mavs and Celtics, the Nets are within two games of .500. It's amazing that Mirza Teletovic, who dropped 34 points on Dallas on Friday and is shooting 46 percent from 3-point range over the last month, couldn't get off the bench in a playoff series in which the Bulls didn't bother guarding Gerald Wallace or Reggie Evans.
Marc Stein, ESPN (16)
Deron Williams has had 16 days off. The Nets liken his latest ankle procedures to an oil change. What they're banking on is the idea that the time off before and after Brooklyn's trip to London, on top of the treatment course, leads to an all-new version of D-Will as we move into the second half.
Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports (18)
The Nets have a tough schedule ahead with Toronto, Oklahoma City and Indiana.
Jason Patt, SB Nation (16)
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce returned to Boston to much fanfare and thunderous applause: Garnett and Pierce didn't do much in the game itself, but the Nets still won their fifth straight as their superb 2014 continued.
Brian Kamenetzky, Sheridan Hoops (14)
Their white-hot surge coincided almost immediately with the unavailability of super-expensive cornerstone pieces Brook Lopez and Deron Williams (now back as a reserve). We’ll let the front office decide whether this is inspirational or terrifying.
They win this week’s “third best team in the East” trophy (doesn’t that title change weekly?). They have won five in a row and 10-of-11 since going small, but there are real tests this week against the Raptors, Thunder and Pacers.
Matt Moore, CBS Sports (9)
Oklahoma City, Indiana, and San Antonio in a week and a half. Let's see what the old boys are made of, shall we?
Matt Dollinger, Sports Illustrated (12)
Third-best team in the East? The Nets have been the best team in the NBA in 2014. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are finally looking comfortable in black and white and their team's defense is starting to produce results like the one they anchored for so many years in Boston.
Adi Joseph, Sam Amick, USA Today (15)
Are we still talking about firing Jason Kidd?
Mitch Lawrence, New York Daily News (14)
There's no reason why Jason Kidd's team can't keep rolling in the next four days against the Mavs, Celtics and Raptors. Their next big statement game a week from tonight vs. Durant and the Thunder in Barclays Center.
Tim Bontemps, New York Post (6)
In the space of a month, Jason Kidd has gone from being on the hottest of hot seats to being in line to earn Coach of the Month honors for January. This has turned into an upside-down version of the 2012-13 season for the Nets.