Brooklyn Nets giving their charter jet a rest as they hit "soft middle" of the schedule

The Nets charter jet can rest up for a while.  Brooklyn is in the "soft middle" of their schedule. After 16 games of hellish competition, five home games and only three wins, the schedule gets less tough for a long time.

Here's some highlights...

--Between the road heavy start and and an ugly finish, the Nets will play 26 of 40 games between Sunday and  February 23, the start of the "circus trip," at home in Brooklyn. That's basically half the season.

--Over the next three weeks, the Nets do not leave New York City.  They play eight games at Barclays and one at Madison Square Garden.

--The longest road trip in that stretch is three games.

--The longest homestand of the season, six games, starts next weekend, following Friday's game at the Garden.

--Also in the "soft middle" is a nine-day layoff at All-Star Break, between February 10 and February 19 and both the last two games before the break and first two back are home games.

--If players stay at home during the All-Star Break, rather than fly to Toronto for the game or make a getaway to the Caribbean, they won't have to get on a plane from February 1 through 21. Their only away game in that stretch is a bus trip to Philadelphia.

--Sometime late in that stretch, the team will move practice facility from East Rutherford to Industry City.

Starting February 23, it gets rough again, starting with the NINE-game "circus trip," when elephants and clowns take over Barclays Center.  (No, we are not going there). We can talk about that when the time comes.

• Schedule - Brooklyn Nets