Brooklyn Nets: 5 keys to making the 2019 NBA Playoffs

1. Keep playing together

This one has been pretty easy for the Nets so far, but the tough part is yet to come. Teams are now aware of these guys, and they won’t take them lightly going forward. That puts an impetus on the locker room to stay together, because the going will get tough as the season intensifies.

Despite how much the players love LeVert, his return will shake things up somewhat. After all, he was getting a lot more touches than Russell early on.

Whatever is best for the team, those two and Dinwiddie have to figure out how to run the offense off each other. Russell and Dinwiddie figured it out in the meantime, but LeVert adds a new dimension.

Most obviously, they all have to shoot efficiently. There’s only one ball, so to make the offense efficient, all of them will have to take turns in spot-up roles.

Atkinson will find a way to stagger them all efficiently — that is, until crunch time. If they can’t find a way to complement each other, it will come down to a “your turn, my turn” conundrum when the games get tight.

Consequently enough, that’s basically the entire playoffs: every possession counts. For the Nets to make audible noise down the stretch, they will have to do their best work in the tightest of situations.