The Brooklyn Nets are at the point of their 2026-27 NBA season where they are trying to figure out how to get out of their own way in winnable games. Brooklyn probably feels like the season couldn't get any worse with the way that they've lost the last two games, but in the eyes of at least one outlet, they're still rising in the league-wide power rankings.
"The Nets got their second win of the season on Wednesday, avenging their opening-night loss to Charlotte with their best offensive performance (114 points on 94 possessions) of the season," John Schuhmann wrote of the Nets for NBA.com. Despite Brooklyn amassing just a 1-2 record over their past three games, Schuhmann still has them ranked No. 26 in the league.
"But they blew a 17-point lead
in Atlanta and got clobbered in Dallas over the weekend," Schuhmann continued. Brooklyn has had a disappointing weekend to say the least as they lost to the Atlanta Hawks 124-121 on Saturday despite having a 17-point lead and they suffered defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks 130-93 on Sunday in a game that wasn't close after the first quarter. Schuhmann had two takeaways that should be interesting for the Nets.
"The Nets lead the league in the percentage of their minutes (33%) that have come from rookies or second-year players, and another member of last year’s Draft class was back in the rotation last week," Schuhmann wrote, noting that Brooklyn has remained committed to developing the younger players on the team. While that's good news for a Nets team that's still rebuilding, there is another element of their game that has to change moving forward.
"In a game (in Atlanta on Saturday) that they lost by three points, the Nets had 10 more turnovers than the Hawks. They’re in the bottom four in turnover rate for what would be the third straight season, and Julius Randle is registering the highest rate of his career (15.0 per 100 possessions used)," Schuhmann wrote on Brooklyn's turnover issues. The Nets have turned the ball over at least 12 times in each of their first 10 games this season and one of their wins came in the game where they had the least amount of turnovers (12).
Despite the fact that the Nets traded for former Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, many around the league still expected them to be one of the worst teams due to the lack of depth throughout the roster. Randle, among many players on the rosters, is having a subpar season compared to what he has been doing over the past few years and once that changes for him and everyone else, Brooklyn should be able to turn their season to some degree.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets 26th in NBA.com's power rankings despite 1-2 record over last 3
