After beginning the season at 10-21, the Brooklyn Nets have climbed back into the playoff hunt and are now within a game behind the Chicago Bulls for the fourth seed in the conference prompting veteran Paul Pierce to declare that the Nets can match up with anybody in the league.
"Nobody is talking about us, but we feel like we match up with anybody in the league, especially in the Eastern Conference," Pierce told NY Post. "Let the chips fall where they may."
He even boldly predicted that the Nets can surprise teams during the playoffs. "Come playoff time, we feel we can compete with the best of them, and we feel like we can be one of the better teams in the East, if not come out of the East, and we'll be able to surprise a couple of teams."
Since that poor 10-21 start, the Nets have gone 26-10 which is the best record in the Eastern Conference this year, and the fourth-best overall in the league. The Nets have also beaten playoff-caliber teams like the defending champion Miami Heat twice, the OKC Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, and Memphis Grizzlies. More impressively, they have turned their fortunes around without All-Star center Brooke Lopez.
Asked about the team's playoff chances, Nets general manager Billy King said: "I'm not worried about it. I want to play our best basketball going into the postseason and worry about that then. Miami is still the defending champs. You still have to beat them."
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