They repeated the mantra over and over, to a man. There are no moral victories. There are no moral victories. There are no moral victories.
But there is moderate improvement and modest progress, and the Nets are convinced they have made both recently, headed into Friday’s game in Dallas.
“Yeah, I do. I see progress. I see us getting better as a team on both ends of the floor,’’ Joe Johnson said. “We’ve just got to continue to work, continue to try and get better. When we move the ball offensively, we get great looks and guys knock down shots. So if we can keep that up, and defensively keep talking and keep everybody in the right place, we’ll be all right.’’
All right would be a vast improvement for a team that’s just 12-34, and has seen both its general manager and coach removed. But that’s the immediate goal.
Despite Tuesday’s loss to Miami, where one sloppy stretch cost the Nets, they are taking solace in the fact it was the only poor quarter they have played in the last eight. And they are buoyed by back-to-back good efforts, saying if they play as well and as hard as they did the past two games, wins will follow.
Not moral ones, mind you, but real ones.
“I think so,’’ Donald Sloan said. “We’ve always seemed to play well one night — even if it’s a loss — and then come out flat the next night. Or play flat and horrible one night, and come out the next night and look like a completely different team.
“We had a little carryover from the Oklahoma City game, which is good. We can get that going in Dallas, go in there and fight, and I think we should be able to get a win.”
The Nets got a rare win Sunday over Oklahoma City, and this team usually follows solid play with a week or more of poor play. But against a pair of solid teams, the Nets were outscored in only quarter, a 26-16 third period against the Heat that essentially cost them that game.
For a team with a maddening habit of going up-and-down like a yo-yo, the Nets are encouraged they can build on it against the Mavericks and Deron Williams.
“The effort absolutely was there. If we play like that every night, we’ll be all right. No question,’’ said Brook Lopez, who has four double-doubles in his last five games.
“I thought we played aggressive,” interim coach Tony Brown said. “I thought we were into it. The first half [against Miami] we really showed that we were going to try and be consistent with the effort like we were against Oklahoma City. There are no moral [victories]. We want to win games. But I thought our effort gave us an opportunity to do that.”
Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant went out of his way to praise the Nets’ effort, and Johnson — who seemed almost beaten-down at times in 2015 playing under Lionel Hollins — has looked and sounded rejuvenated.
“I enjoy the game of basketball, period,” Johnson said. “In the heat of the battle, in the game, we have our frustrations in the moment; but I enjoy playing. I love the game. I hate to lose, but unfortunately we’re in a tough situation. We’ve got to play, and make do with what we’ve got. If we put it all out there on the line, we can live with the results.’’
Bojan Bogdanovic was picked for the World Team roster in the 2016 Rising Stars challenge at All-Star Weekend in Toronto on Feb. 12.