Some long-time fans may be incredulous that the back-to-back New Jersey Nets finals teams of the early aughts never had a winning record on the road. Jason Kidd and Co. certainly had a homecourt advantage at the Continental Airlines Arena, going 33-8 at home in both 2001-02 and 2002-03. But the Eastern Conference Champions fared far worse away from the environs of the Meadowlands, going 19-22 on the road in 01-02 and 16-25 in 02-03.
When Rod Boone informed Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo that the franchise had never cracked the 20 win mark on the road, Carlesimo wasn’t buying it.
“No, I don’t believe that,” he said. “I would respectfully question your guy’s bookkeeping. That can’t be right.”
Tying the road record might prove to be a tough task tonight, as the Nets take on a Blazers team that is 22-11 at home. In addition, the Nets will be without starting shooting guard Joe Johnson. The Nets are 3-2 in games that JJ doesn’t play, with all three wins coming against teams that have sub .500 records.
Even if Carlesimo’s crew can’t get the job done tonight in the Beaver State, the Nets still have seven road games left this season, including three more on the eight-game, 17 day Circus Road Trip. Brooklyn reached the halfway point of the longest road stretch of the season Sunday night against the Suns with a solid 3-1 mark. As long as the Nets go 2-6 in their final eight road games (including tonight), they will set a franchise record for road wins.
As far as procuring the winning record for the season, the Nets only need to go 1-11 in their final 12 games to assure that happens. Since going 49-33 in 2005-06, the Nets have had one non-losing season, a perfectly symmetrical and mediocre 41-41 mark in 2006-07 (#TheLastTimeTheNetsMadeThePlayoffs).
Even if the Nets collapse and go 0-12 in their final dozen regular season games, they will still compete in the playoffs for the first time since ’07 and will set a franchise record for wins in Brooklyn (RIP @Nets_PR).
Read More: Nets on verge of first winning road record since moving to NBA in 1976 – Rod Boone – Newsday
