Jordi Fernández's work with the impressive Brooklyn Nets

Perhaps Jordi Fernández is not getting enough buzz as Coach of the Year. It was thought that the Brooklyn Nets were going to be a declining team at the start of the season. According to Basketball Reference, they had the lowest expected total wins before the season started. It was only 19.5, one less than the Washington Wizards and two less than the Portland Trail Blazers. Now, as we are in the All-Star Weekend break, it's quite remarkable that they are right there in the Play-In fight.

Can the Nets make it to the playoffs in April? At the All-Star break, they are not currently in one of the Play-In Tournament positions. However, they are not far off. Brooklyn won their last three games before the break, improving their record to 20-34. While that's not very good, it's almost enough to be in the 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

Their record is tied with the Philadelphia 76ers for the 11th best in the East. It also puts Brooklyn just 1.5 games behind the 10th-placed Chicago Bulls, who have a 22-33 record. While the Nets ended up winning games before the break, Philadelphia and Chicago did the opposite. The Bulls have lost four in a row, and the 76ers five. Chicago traded Zach LaVine to start February and seems to have a worse roster after doing so. Philadelphia has been losing lately even when Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey are in the lineup.

Although the Nets made moves before the trade deadline (trading Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schroder, also trading for Mikal Bridges in the offseason), they continue to play hard as they have done all season. They also brought in D'Angelo Russell in the Finney-Smith trade. While Russell was heavily criticized with the Lakers, he is more than capable of helping Brooklyn win games. They are 8-8 with the 1.90-meter guard in their lineup.

The Nets have a remaining schedule of medium difficulty

With 28 games left in the regular season, very few (if any) expected the Nets to have important games remaining to play (apart from being just important).

According to Tankathon, the Nets have a remaining schedule of medium difficulty. Their opponents have a winning percentage of 50.3%, the 15th highest in the league. Right behind them, in 16th place, are the Bulls, with 50.2%. The 76ers have one of the easiest, as their remaining opponents' winning percentage of 47.4% is the 27th most challenging. Brooklyn still has five games against teams with the top three records (Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Boston Celtics). Sixteen of their remaining 28 games are at home.

The Nets have also been without their leading scorer, Cam Thomas, since January 2. He suffered a left hamstring sprain and, according to the latest updates, the 23-year-old player will return shortly after the All-Star break. The 1.88-meter shooting guard is averaging 24.7 points this season, although only in 19 games.

While most analysts did not predict the Nets to reach the play-in, they also did not expect them to stay in the fight for so long. Their 20 wins already surpass the preseason total of 19.5. They will aim for win number 21 on Thursday against the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El trabajo de Jordi Fernández con unos impresionantes Brooklyn Nets