It is an obvious question, and one that this column has been getting at all season: where has this Nets team been?
Where has the three-straight 20-plus point games from Andray Blatche been?
He looks like he is once again becoming the sixth man that was so valuable to this Nets team last season.
Where has the pick-and-roll been?
The obvious answer is the return of Deron Williams and Brook Lopez from injury. When two All-Stars return from prolonged absences, it will no doubt make any team better. And not too many in the league run the pick-and-roll more effectively than Williams and Lopez.
Where has the energy been?
Deron Williams and Brook Lopez might be the answer to that one, too. The Nets really had little room for error with such high expectations entering their second season at the Barclays Center. And really, that was all they did through 20 games. But with their stars returning to the floor and Jason Kidd taking control as a head coach, the players seem a little looser than they had through the first 20 games.
What about the ridiculous shooting from suddenly above-average Joe Johnson?
It would be easy to brush it off and say the Sixers have a dreadful defense. They do, but Joe Johnson has been much more aggressive offensively this year, oftentimes making himself the go-to-guy with the ball in his hands.
Whatever the reasons, as winners of four of the last five, the Nets finally have a pulse.
However, just as we implored Brooklynites to not panic about the woeful start, let us not get too carried away with wins over the last-place Milwaukee Bucks and the Michael Carter Williams-less Philadelphia 76ers. It is a nice start on the road to recovery, but there are still a lot more questions that need to be answered.
Tom Lafe is a 6-foot-5 sports-world insider with a middling high school basketball career who believes the Nets will be driven by the success of the team’s big men.