Earlier in the season, most NBA matchmakers would have agreed that the Nets had the talent to get into the playoffs as a seventh or eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Those matchmakers couldn’t predict that Jason Kidd would request a trade and Nenad Krstic would take three quarters of the season to get his game back to where it was early last season.

Those same matchmakers couldn’t have predicted that Vince Carter would play streaky offense and spotty defense most of the season and that Laurence Frank would start Jason Collins over Jamaal Magloire, Sean Williams and Josh Boone for a good chunk of the season.

However, despite the flumps produced this season on the bench and on the court, New Jersey is only a half game behind the Atlanta Hawks for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Nets General Manager Rod Thorn doesn’t seem to think his team will have a problem getting into postseason play this season and has already stated that Frank isn’t in jeopardy of losing his job if they don’t.

“I expect us to make it,” Thorn told the Associated Press.

The Nets themselves also don’t seem worried down the stretch about their playoff chances, even though they don’t particularly love the way the season has gone for them.

“I would prefer to be in a little bit higher situation battling for seeding, rather than battling to get in, but I do enjoy it,” Richard Jefferson, the Nets leading scorer, told the AP. “This adds a little more fun to your season. It makes the games more important.”

Adding a little bit of excitement of his own as of late has been Krstic, who seems to be completely healthy after suffering a debilitating knee injury last season. Before the injury, Krstic was emerging as the team’s biggest weapons on offense.

“I’m feeling really good, my knee is feeling great right now,” Krstic told the AP after scoring a season high 22 points at Madison Square Garden on Monday. “This season for me is still going to be ups and downs. If I play bad the next game, it’s not going to be about my knee, it’s just I had a bad game. I just want to put that behind me. That’s like past me. It’s almost a year and a half ago; I don’t care about that.”

With a healthy Krstic and the newly acquired Devin Harris supporting Jefferson and Carter down the stretch, the Nets may just yet make due on Thorn’s words.

Winning three of their last four games, the New Jersey Nets are contending for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but not by much.

Currently tied with the Atlanta Hawks with the final slot in the Eastern Conference, the drastically revamped Nets feel they owe it to themselves to make the playoffs and put the bumps and bruises of what has been a season-long stretch of inconsistency, behind them.

“It’s always important. In this league it’s so important to be in the postseason. We’ve been fortunate because we’ve been there six years in a row,” explained coach Lawrence Frank to the Associated Press. “We don’t want to let down that legacy of achievement. Think about it. There’s only been four teams—and we’re one of them—that have made it six years in a row, so there’s got to be something to it.”

However, all is not well in Nets-Land, especially for former first round pick Marcus Williams. Scoring only 28 points in his last five games, Williams was picked out by Nets head coach Laurence Frank as someone who has to step up for them to be able to get into the postseason.

“We’re going to need better,” he said, before giving a less than favorable assessment. “He’s definitely talented,” Frank told the AP, stressing “the intensity, you have to bring every single day (and) to be able to defend against the better guys he has to put himself in optimal condition. He has to put himself in the best shape of his life—as a younger player you’re now asked to do more. That means you have to be reliable and in order to be reliable you have to be consistent and in order to be consistent you have to be committed every single day.”

Nevertheless, regardless of the ineffectiveness of Williams and nagging injuries to key players Bostjan Nachbar, Nenad Krstic and new point guard Devin Harris, the Nets know what they have to do in order to make the playoffs.
“It basically comes down to this: We have to play our best basketball in the last month — the way we were supposed to play all year,” Nets center Josh Boone told the New Jersey Star Ledger. “But that’s the way it is every year with this team. It always comes down to which team can put it together at the right time. We put together a great run at the end of last year (and in 2004), and hopefully these three home games are a springboard for another big finish this year. We definitely have it in us.”

There aren’t many ways to feel when you end a six-game losing streak, but when you do it against a team like the Cavaliers, you have to smile a little bit. Sure, this team needs more help on the boards and isn’t as creative as they used to be with Kidd, but they got it done on Wednesday, inching past the Cavs 104-99, courtesy of a 21-point night from Bostjan Nachbar off the bench and 24 points from Richard Jefferson. Shooting 51 percent from the floor and 46 percent from three point land, the Nets got the breaks they haven’t gotten all season.

“It was a must-win situation for us,” point guard Devin Harris told the AP. “We had a rough road trip. We needed this win to get our confidence back.”

With streaky shooting from Vince Carter and company this year, the Nets currently find themselves 11 games under .500 and only a half game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Nets General Manager Rod Thorn knows the key to the team’s success is their shooting and knows that they have to stay hot in order to make the playoffs.

“We haven’t shot the ball well enough,” Thorn told Reuters on Thursday. “A lot of teams zone us, which has given us a lot of problems. We definitely need to either have some of our guys on our team get better shooting the ball or get some people that can make shots. That’s an area we’ll look at very closely.”

However, with the Nets over the cap, I doubt they’ll be room for them to make any huge moves this offseason. Nonetheless, with a healthy Nenad Krstic and Devin Harris getting more accustomed to New Jersey, the Nets may not have to make any huge moves. Josh Boone and Sean Williams in time can be a solid two-some at center and with Marcus Williams, DeSagana Diop, Nachbar and Trent Hassell on the bench, the Nets will be in decent shape as a team. In the Eastern Conference, New Jersey should be able to make the playoffs. However, you can forget about advancing past the first round unless they start shooting better and play better on defense.

I’m rushing things though, this season isn’t finished yet. Even though they have a tough schedule ahead of them, they still control their own destiny. They just have to get solid performances from guys like Jefferson, Carter and Harris and hope that Nachbar and Williams can provide a spark off the bench.

With a slim one-game lead over the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the New Jersey Nets need to find some kind of consistency if they hope to reach the postseason. Losing their last three games in less than admirable fashion, thanks to sub-par shooting and spotty defense, things are not looking as good as the organization hoped earlier in the season.

To make matters worse, Richard Jefferson, the player many expected to lead the team after the trade of Jason Kidd a few weeks ago, has failed to step up and take charge of a team desperate for a leader on the court.

“I feel I haven’t played well in a about a week, a week and a half. Just me personally,” the Nets forward and leading scorer told the Star Ledger. “There were times the team played well, but on an individual level, I feel I haven’t played well. I have to play better.”

Averaging only 16.7 points through his last three games and shooting 41.9 percent from the floor, Jefferson hasn’t been the same player he was through the first half of the season, when he was averaging 23 points a game and playing a pivotal role in the team’s success.

With the loss of Kidd and new point guard Devin Harris still adjusting to the team’s offense, RJ knows that he can’t continue what has been a mediocre stretch of games for him. More importantly though, Jefferson understands the need to score in the clutch, something he hasn’t done lately.

“I’ve got to do a better job of doing something in the fourth quarter,” Jefferson told the Star Ledger. “My last six games, my numbers in the fourth quarter are pathetic, they’re a joke. Over my last 6-7 games I haven’t done anything.”

Luckily for the Nets, forward/center Nenad Krstic, is starting to regain the form that made him a fan favorite last season before a debilitating knee injury ended his season. Coming off of a 34-minute, 16-point performance against Grizzles on Wednesday, a healthy Krstic will not only help New Jersey this season, but will improve their chances next season.

In a classy, team-first move, Krstic isn’t thinking about the offseason yet and is trying to prove that he’s still the promising player he was last season.

“You can’t think about that,” Krstic told the Star Ledger. “I still have enough time. You know, I’m just trying to do my best on the court and see what happens. I can’t do anything else.”

However, a healthy Krstic alone will not guarantee the Nets a playoff spot. The New Jersey front office is well aware of this though and is hoping the team can sandwich a few wins together, while the teams on their back, most notably Atlanta, can lose some steam.

“Our schedule is very, very tough,” Nets President and GM Rod Thorn told the AP. “Atlanta has a bunch of easy ones, plus they have a doubleheader coming up Saturday and they’ll probably win two right there.”