When the Nets got off to a 4-4 start this season, it was quite a surprise based on the dismal forecast many had for the team.
Among the early stunners was pushing the powerhouse Nuggets to the brink before falling in overtime in October.
When the teams meet again Friday, the Nets will barely resemble that squad.
Dennis Schroder played well enough early on to earn himself a trade, followed by Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.
Throw in a parade of injuries, and the names on the back of the jerseys are markedly different.
And the results show it. Brooklyn has lost three straight and six of its past seven.
The Nets might be down to just eight players again, like they were in Wednesday’s 113-98 loss to the Pistons due to the long list of injuries.
Things aren’t going to get any easier for the depleted squad against the Nuggets (21-15) — the No. 4 team in the West. MVP candidate Nikola Jokic awaits in what is the first game of the Nets’ six-game, 10-day West Coast trip.
The Nets’ fourth game of the season was against the Nuggets on Oct. 29.
Even with Schroder and Finney-Smith, three-time MVP Jokic had a triple-double of 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 16 assists in the Nets’ 144-139 overtime loss.
Jokic, who is averaging a career-high 31.5 points this season, has been sidelined for the last two games due to an illness. Even without him, the Nets will have an uphill battle against the 2022-23 champions.
But coach Jordi Fernandez isn’t fazed.
“I feel good because I care about my group,” he said. “And like I said, if we can learn from today and be 1 percent better … I’m not worried about the things I cannot control. I’m worried about the group that I have and go out there and fight. We are going to play a very good team. A team that has won a championship and a team who has the best player in the world right now. It’s going to be a good challenge and that should be exciting.”
The Nets are also hopeful Cam Johnson will return to play at some point during the road trip after suffering a sprained right ankle Jan. 2 against the Bucks.
He has missed three games thus far.
Johnson, the team’s second-leading scorer, would be a huge boost against the Nuggets. He is averaging 19.5 points per game on 49 percent shooting.
The Nets blew a 17-point lead against the Nuggets earlier this season.
Missed late-game shots and the glaring 47-27 disparity in free throws heavily contributed to the overtime disappointment against Fernandez’s former team.
Cam Thomas (left hamstring strain), Ben Simmons (calf soreness and lower back injury management) have sat out three games with an evaluation awaiting Thomas after the road trip.
D’Angelo Russell played through half of the 76ers game before taking a hit to the shin and has since been out for two consecutive games. Day’Ron Sharpe missed Wednesday’s game with an illness.
