Are Brooklyn’s lottery dreams turning into a nightmare?
The Nets’ first winning streak in a month — beating the Bucks 96-90 before a crowd of 16,834 at Barclays Center — will have the players celebrating, and their tank-happy fans fretting.
In a tanking season that is all about jostling for lottery positioning — playing the percentages — Tuesday’s victory was Pyrrhic.
E.J. Liddell, who scored a game-high 21 points, shoots over AJ Green (20) and Andre Jackson Jr. (44) during the Nets’ 96-90 win over the Bucks on April 7, 2026 at Barclays Center. Corey Sipkin for New York Post Brooklyn — who had a chance to pull into a first-place tie in the lottery race if they’d lost to Washington on Easter Sunday — have essentially forfeited all hope of finishing first, three games behind the Wizards with just three to play.
Now the Nets (20-59) have slumped to third place, and are suddenly in very real danger of sliding out of the Top 3 altogether.
Brooklyn — who enjoyed a 2 ½-game cushion on both the Jazz and Kings entering Easter Sunday — have now seen that cut to one, pending Utah’s game vs. New Orleans and Sacramento’s game against Golden State.
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Brooklyn will host the pitiful Pacers on Thursday.
E.J. Liddell has a career-high 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, 2-of-3 from deep.
