The Brooklyn Nets have had a tough start to the season, but their upcoming slate could give them a much-needed boost. 

It’s hard to imagine a much worse start than the one the Nets have had to begin the season. Sitting at 2-8 to begin the season, the Nets have established themselves as one of the worst teams in the league, especially offensively. 

While the overall numbers look quite bad, the Nets’ schedule could be partially to blame for such an awful start in the standings. Over the first few weeks of the new season, the Nets have been mostly tasked with playing playoff teams and teams that have clearly improved from a season ago. 

That second theme won’t necessarily end in the Nets’ upcoming slate, but there are fewer proven teams on the schedule for Brooklyn through the end of November. Starting on Wednesday night, the Nets will enter a stretch featuring several teams below .500. The 4-7 New Orleans Pelicans will welcome the Nets to town in a game that could be a huge confidence booster for Brooklyn. 

From there, the Nets will cap off their four-game road trip against an up-and-down Memphis Grizzlies squad and return home for a three-game homestand. From now through the end of the month, the Nets will still face some playoff teams from last season, but almost all of those squads will be missing an All-Star. 

Although Brooklyn has been dealing with injuries of its own, most notably Egor Demin’s absence, the Nets should still be able to compete over this stretch and potentially net some wins. Simply having an easier schedule won’t automatically equate to performing better and getting more wins, but the Nets have to look at this upcoming stretch as a real opportunity to turn things around. 

Going into Wednesday night’s action, the Nets still remain only one loss out of the play-in picture. With another 72 games to go, getting back into that mix now could give Brooklyn the confidence it needs to remain in that race over the course of a long season. 

Brooklyn’s issues still need to be sorted out, and there’s still a chance that this Nets team is simply bad, but these next several games should paint a clear picture of what the rest of the season will look like. Brooklyn hasn’t caught many breaks to open the season, but it has a chance to capitalize on one now as November progresses.