Spencer Dinwiddie and the Nets drove past the Raptors Tuesday at Barclays Center, but were eliminated from contention for the NBA Cup. AP Photo by Bebeto Matthews
The Brooklyn Nets improved to 3-0 on their ongoing five-game homestand Tuesday night at Downtown’s Barclays Center only to find out they were officially eliminated from advancing to the knockout round of the NBA’s first-ever In-Season Tournament.
“It (would) have been nice to go to (Las) Vegas, but it is what it is,” center Nic Claxton lamented after the Nets were denied one of the eight spots given to the teams that will fight for a chance to square off in Sin City next month for the coveted NBA Cup.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 23 points, Mikal Bridges added 22 points and 10 rebounds and Royce O’Neale and Cam Johnson finished with 18 points each as Brooklyn rolled to a 115-103 victory over Toronto in front of 15,844 fans on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.
Claxton had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the Nets (9-8), who finished 3-1 in Group C East, but only managed to take third place behind Boston (3-1) and Orlando (3-1), respectively.
Brooklyn lost the three-way tiebreaker based on point differential.
The Celtics edged the Magic and will participate in the East Quarterfinals, which will take place Dec. 4 before the inaugural tournament moves to T-Mobile Arena in Vegas for the semifinals and championship game from Dec. 7-9.
The Nets had an outside chance to grab the conference’s wild-card berth, but the arch rival New York Knicks took the last available spot with a 115-91 triumph over Charlotte at Madison Square Garden Tuesday.
“We all thought we were going to Vegas, I cannot lie,” Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley said after scoring 23 points off the bench.
“When we first won, we all were saying we were going to Vegas like we were going to Disney World when you go to the Super Bowl.”
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