Coming off of a 28-win campaign last season, the Brooklyn Nets had low expectations. The steady development of young players in Caris LeVert, D'Angelo Russell and Jarrett Allen seemed more important than wins.

The season seemed to head that way on Dec. 5. After a game-winning three pointer by Oklahoma City's Paul George knocked off Brooklyn, the Nets fell to 8-18. Mired in an eight-game losing streak, Brooklyn found themselves with the fourth worst record in the East - behind the New York Knicks.

But Brooklyn instantly turned their season around, winning nine of their next 10 games. From that point, the Nets were one of the better teams in the East, ending up with a 34-22 record in their final 56 games. Even with LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie out for lengthy periods with injury, the Nets finished sixth in the East with a 42-40 record.

Kenny Atkinson walked out of a quiet locker room and into a small press conference area with a handful of reporters. Brooklyn's head coach was in near tears having witnessed a gruesome right foot injury to his 24-year-old rising star and development poster boy, Caris LeVert. He did the best he could to answer questions, but they weren't really answers.

No timetables. No clue what was going to happen next for a kid who already endured three surgeries.

But then he finished with a powerful statement, a true testament showing how much he believes in his young prodigy.

"I just know Caris," he said, "like if anybody's coming back from this [it's him]. Knowing the human, the character, the person, the player … he'll come back from this."

The Brooklyn Nets were a pleasant surprise this season. Expected to finish out of the playoffs, Brooklyn managed a 14-game win improvement from the previous season and finished 42-40, earning the sixth seed in the East.

In their first playoff appearance in four years, the Nets will head down the New Jersey Turnpike to face the 51-31 Philadelphia 76ers. In the regular season, the Nets faced the Sixers in four games and split the season series 2-2. Just one of these games - a 123-110 Sixers win on March 28 - has featured Philadelphia's fully updated roster following the Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris in-season trades.

Can the upstart Nets make some noise in the playoffs? Here are some key factors to the Nets' first round playoff matchup.

As the Brooklyn Nets made their playoff drive, they knew the degree of difficulty they would face with their schedule in the last few weeks, especially with the final weekend.

After getting a dramatic win over the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, the Nets conclude a critical back-to-back set Sunday when they visit the Indiana Pacers, who will likely be the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

"It says a lot about the team and the organization," Nets forward DeMarre Carroll said. "We just keep fighting and fighting. We don't want to stop here. We want to try to go to Indiana and pick up another one."

The Brooklyn Nets are all but back in the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2014-15. All that's really left to determine is who their opponent is going to be.

The Nets currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference, up half a game against the eighth-seeded Miami Heat and behind half a game to the Detroit Pistons with six games to play. 

At the moment, they would face off against the Toronto Raptors in the first round, but with constantly shifting standings, the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks are potential adversaries too. Here's a look at which of the three teams makes for Brooklyn's best chance at an upset.

Lou Williams hit the game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key at the final buzzer to give the Los Angeles Clippers a 119-116 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.

Los Angeles led 116-106 with 1:02 remaining, only to see Brooklyn score 10 straight points and tie it with 5.3 seconds remaining on DeMarre Carroll's dunk. The Clippers called a timeout to set up the winning shot for Williams, who finished with 25 points.

The Nets were in a nip-and-tuck affair with the lowly Cavaliers all night Wednesday, but after three overtimes Brooklyn was finally able to come away with a 148-139 victory in Cleveland. The 148 points the Nets scored are tied for the second-most they've ever scored in a game, and are the most they've ever scored in a road game. >> Box score

Things to know about Wednesday's game

1) When the Nets took a 135-131 lead with 3:08 remaining in the third overtime, that marked their largest lead of the game. D'Angelo Russell hit a 3-pointer to give them that lead before extending it to eight with two consecutive buckets. Russell, who will head to Charlotte for this weekend's All-Star Game, took over at the end of the game as he scored 14 of his 36 points in the third overtime, going 6-for-6 from the field in the final period after struggling earlier in the game.

Russell was 5-for-18 with 12 points in 29 regulation minutes. He then went 8-for-12 with 24 points in 12 overtime minutes to ensure Brooklyn (30-29) took a winning record into the break.

After losing three straight games, their longest losing streak in two months, the Nets bounced back Wednesday with a 135-130 win over the Nuggets, who currently hold the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. The Nets won their 29th game, surpassing last season's win total 56 games into the season. >> Box score

Things to know about Wednesday's game

1) As has often been the case this season, D'Angelo Russell led the way for Brooklyn by putting up 27 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. He shot 10-for-23 from the field including 6-for-9 from 3-point range. The All-Star guard's double-double was his sixth of the season, which is a career-high. This marked the second time in his career Russell had at least 25 points and 10 assists; he did it on Jan. 23 against the Magic.

D'Angelo Russell scored 28 points, DeMarre Carroll had 20 points off the bench and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Chicago Bulls 117-100 on Sunday for their third straight victory.

Jarrett Allen added 19 and six rebounds as the Nets improved to 12-3 in their last 15 games, matching their best 15-game stretch since moving to Brooklyn in 2012.

Zach LaVine had 27 points for Chicago and Bobby Portis scored 17 in 20 minutes off the bench after missing seven games with a sprained right ankle. Kris Dunn added 16 points.

NEW YORK (AP) Mike Conley scored 19 of Memphis' 20 points in the second overtime period, rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. scored a career-high 36 points and the Grizzlies beat the Brooklyn Nets 131-125 Friday.

Conley kept Memphis' hopes alive in regulation when he blocked Spencer Dinwiddie's potential game-winning basket and then scored on a floater to tie it 117-all with nine seconds left in the first overtime period.

The Grizzlies point guard then practically beat the Nets on his own in the second overtime period, shooting 3-for-3 from the field and making all seven of his free throws to finish with 37 points and 10 rebounds.

The Nets may be in a rebuild, but that doesn't mean head coach Kenny Atkinson can't get angry when his team underperforms. 

Brooklyn has been reeling of late, losing six of their last seven games. And they haven't been close losses with four of them by a 14-point or more deficit at the final buzzer. 

A rebuild is fine as long as the team is giving their all, and understands what kind of team they are together. Atkinson feels as if his team has lost their identity during this skid. 

NEW YORK (AP) DeMarre Carroll scored 26 points, Spencer Dinwiddie had 15 and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Miami Heat 101-95 on Friday night.

Brooklyn snapped a five-game losing skid at Barclays Center and a seven-game home losing streak to the Heat.

Caris LeVert and Joe Harris each added 12 points for the Nets. D'Angelo Russell played 14 minutes and went 0-for-5 from the field for Brooklyn in his first action after missing 32 games following left knee surgery.

Kristaps Porzingis had 26 points and nine rebounds, Michael Beasley added 23 points and 10 boards, and the New York Knicks opened their longest road trip in nearly 30 years by beating the Brooklyn Nets 119-104 on Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) John Wall scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and overtime and added 16 assists as the Washington Wizards beat the Brooklyn Nets 119-113 on Saturday night after giving back a 23-point lead.

The Nets are loving the heightened excitement in Mexico City as they prepare to face the Thunder on Thursday at 10 p.m.

It may just be another regular season game on the record, but Allen Crabbe describes the anticipation and coverage of the game as being playoff-like. 

"We're excited," Crabbe told The Post's Brian Lewis. "It's a different atmosphere playing in the NBA Global Games. You look and you see all these media people, and it doesn't feel like we're in a regular game. It feels like we're in the playoffs or something. There's going to be excitement." 

Caris LeVert scored a season-high 17 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 16 points and the Brooklyn Nets used a strong third quarter to grab momentum and beat the Atlanta Hawks 110-90 on Monday night.

Brooklyn, avenging Saturday's home loss to Atlanta, had everything working in its favor in the second half. It began the third trailing by one but went on a 17-0 run to go ahead 70-54 on DeMarre Carroll's 3-pointer. The lead swelled to 29 in the fourth as the Nets earned their largest win of the season.

DALLAS (AP) DeMarre Carroll scored 15 of his 22 points in the third quarter to help the Brooklyn Nets beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-104 on Wednesday night.

Trevor Booker had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Spencer Dinwidde added 19 points, and Caris Levert had 13.

Harrison Barnes had 17 points for Dallas, Maxi Kleber added a career-high 16, and Dwight Powell had 14. >> Read more

DALLAS -- Dallas (5-16) faces the Brooklyn Nets (7-13) on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center. Both squads suffered road losses Monday in Texas.

The depleted Nets are coming off a 117-103 loss at Houston, a game that featured an NBA-record 89 3-point attempts. Brooklyn was without D'Angelo Russell, Allen Crabbe, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and DeMarre Carroll.

DeMarre Carroll scored a season-high 24 points, Trevor Booker added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday night with a 98-88 victory over the struggling Memphis Grizzlies.

Joe Harris finished with 13 points for the Nets, who used a third-quarter spurt to put away the Grizzlies, who have lost eight straight.

Marc Gasol and Tyreke Evans scored 18 points apiece for Memphis, although Gasol did not play at all in the fourth quarter as a smaller Grizzlies lineup made a dent in Brooklyn's 19-point, second-half lead. Chandler Parsons scored 12, but did not play in the second half after tweaking his right knee.

Allen Crabbe scored 20 points, DeMarre Carroll had 17 and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks 116-104 on Sunday.

Caris LeVert and D'Angelo Russell each had 16 points to help the Nets improve to 2-1 with their second straight victory.

Marco Belinelli had 19 points for Atlanta. The Hawks have lost two in a row to drop to 1-2. >> Read more

Copyright 2017 by The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) D'Angelo Russell, Trevor Booker and DeMarre Carroll all scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Orlando Magic 126-121 on Friday night in their home opener.

Booker added 11 rebounds and made the clinching free throws with 0.9 seconds left after Orlando's Evan Fournier missed a tying 3-point attempt.

The Nets roster is ready to go from worst in the league to playoff contender this season, but GM Sean Marks and head coach Kenny Atkinson are only focused on progress and development. 

The Nets' 20-62 record last season was the worst in the NBA. But spirits are high this season after the acquisitions of PG D'Angelo Russell, C Timofey Mozgov, SF DeMarre Carroll, and SG Allen Crabbe to go along with the Nets' first-round C Jarrett Allen. 

Atkinson loves his new band of players to work with, but he isn't primarily focused on winning a ring just yet. He needs his players to grow first. 

Forward DeMarre Carroll said at Nets media day on Monday that he is 100 percent healthy for the first time in two years.

Carroll has dealt with a variety of injuries, including nagging knee, ankle and back issues that forced him to turn in two down seasons in Toronto. The 6'8" veteran forward was supposed to play a key role as a wing or stretch four with the Raptors but was occasionally passed over by Norman Powell and/or other more durable, consistent, younger players. 

The Nets' newest acquisition SF DeMarre Carroll calls his move to Brooklyn a "reunion" as he reunites with head coach Kenny Atkinson.

In his first interview with the media, Carroll expressed his excitement to join the Nets relating the move to a kid coming home to his family after being away at college. 

"Yeah man, it's a reunion," Carroll told The Post's Brian Lewis. "It's basically like going off to college and coming back to your family. I feel like it's my family. This is where I belong, and where I'm comfortable at."