The Nets were supposed to be built around Ben Simmons, but he’s missed 11 of the team’s 17 games this season and remains out with left lower-back nerve impingement.
Without their point guard, the Nets are starless, with their next highest-paid player, Cameron Johnson, ranking 54th in the league with a $25.6 million salary this season.
Yet they moved a game over .500 with a win over Toronto at Barclays Center on Tuesday night and take a 9-8 record into their matchup against Charlotte in Brooklyn on Thursday, looking to win a season-best fourth game in a row — all at home.
Because they were knocked out of the NBA In-Season Tournament on Tuesday, they picked up two regular-season games against other teams that have been eliminated, with the league announcing the Nets would host Atlanta on Dec. 6 and visit the Wizards on Dec. 8.
That means that three of their next four games will come against teams currently under .500, with the lone exception Orlando (12-5), which the Nets host on Saturday.
So how can the Nets, who were in ninth place in the Eastern Conference following Tuesday’s victory, stay relevant — especially with Simmons sidelined?
Their three-game winning streak has been fueled in a variety of ways, with Royce O’Neale’s timely long-range shooting in the last two victories, a new team-wide attention to rebounding that’s paid dividends of late and a different significant contributor nearly every night.
Here’s a look at some of the recent highlights:
— O’Neale scored 18 points Tuesday, one game after a season-high 20 points versus Chicago. He’s scored 13 or more points three times this season and the Nets have won each game.
Since an ugly 2-for-13 performance from 3-point range in a loss to Boston on Nov. 4, O’Neale has hit 48.4 percent of his long-range shots, including a combined 12-for-22 over the past two games.
— Nic Claxton, when not hampered by an injured ankle, has been a force inside.
After Tuesday’s win, the center said, “Rebounding, I think that’s something that we continue to hang our hat on.” But he’s also averaging 2.9 blocks per game, a career high. More recently, Claxton has blocked at least three shots in each of his last three games — and four of his last five.
— Mikal Bridges is putting up some of his best numbers, including a career-high 21.8 points per game and 3.9 assists. Additionally, his 6.1 rebounds per game are also a career best.
Bridges has grabbed 10 rebounds apiece in two of his last four games and was part of a unit on Tuesday in which all five starters had at least eight rebounds. That’s helped propel the Nets to the top of the NBA with 47.4 rebounds per game after finishing next to the bottom of the league a year ago with 40.5.
— Head coach Jacque Vaughn has also stressed his desire to have the Nets shoot a ton of 3-pointers, and Dorian Finney-Smith is among those who have followed through.
He’s putting up six 3-point attempts per game and making 44.1 percent, both of which are career highs, despite coming off of two of his worst-shooting performances of the season in the wins over Toronto and Chicago.
— Johnson’s more well-rounded play has also been key, as he’s at career highs in rebounds (5.8) and assists (3.0) per game.
It’s helped the Nets survive, at least, without Simmons.
They’re 3-3 when the former top-overall pick plays and 6-5 when he doesn’t, including those three consecutive wins they’ll take into Thursday’s game.