Gradually, the reasons for optimism are more real, more tangible and more enduring in Brooklyn. The Nets overwhelmed the Raptors (114-105) on a night where really It was starting to seem like everything was being left behind: the losses, Kevin Durant’s gaffes in front of the media, Kyrie Irving’s dangerous extravaganzas, lack of work in defense… Since Jacque Vaughn started doing the dirty work with whoever didn’t want to stain Steve Nash’s shirt, the Nets are a basketball team. One that improves: 13-11, already sixth in the West and a fourth-place shot. They have won four games in a rowseven of the last ten and have the fourth-best defense in the NBA since the coaching change.

That’s how things are in a league where seasons are so long and there are so many games that lives never seem to end. The Nets have taken off and now the question is whether this time they shoot themselves in the foot, they do not become their worst and most intimate enemy again. And from there, you would have to start gauging how close they are to the elite of their Conference: Celtics, Bucks… in principle, and if they really keep it aligned, the talent is the. And it shines brighter now that the news is no longer a fan who constantly spills mud. Let’s see if it lasts.

Not only that: Vaughn has commanded a team in which the work of O’Neale and Claxton shines, and in which Joe Harris is beginning to look alike: ankle waives. And it goes on without Ben Simmons but brought back TJ Warren, a voracious scorer who hadn’t played in 703 days, since December 29, 2020. On his return, he added 10 points with excellent sensations. More wood for the Nets, who have crushed a few Raptors they have won in their three games this season. With 27 points and 5 assists from an excellent Kyrie and a choral work that did not need the exploits of Durant: 17 + 9 + 7 against these Raptors with endless arms who often cause him problems.

On the other side of the coin, the Raptors had two draws, in New Orleans and Brooklyn. Disorganized, something that should never be said of this team, and relaxed (also incorrect). At least until they are completely mastered. Two consecutive games with at least 31 points behind, two killer blows. The Nets led 41-17 after the first quarter and 67-31 midway through the second. They were 93-72 at the end of the third and it wasn’t until later that the Canadians recovered, well undershot and weighed down by poor timing from key players like Frad VanVleet and Scottie Barnes.

The Nets had 72 points (72-49) at halftime with 28/48 shooting and 8/17 from 3-point range. And his defensive pressure had untied a rival who was slow to chain Siakam (24 + 7 + 4) and who seemed very minor, too minor: Now 11-11, eighth in the East. Nick Nurse is still not putting Gary Trent Jr on the pace and this time he opted to play with Koloko as the starter despite the principals being available. It did not work. Juancho Hernangómez played 16 minutes, scored 3 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for a team that disappointed in a duel that promised to be powerful and ended in a beating. Demerit for the one who lost… but a lot of merit for the one who won. Some nets with which you have to rub your eyes. Seeing is believing? yet to see a bit more. But at least anyone who wants to believe can no longer be taken for a fool.