NEW YORK _ The calendar page flipped to March with a string of 16 straight losses behind the Nets in season one of this heavy-duty reconstruction project in the heart of Brooklyn.
But after going 1-for-January and 0-for-February, the Nets are finally improving. They have won two straight games for the first time this season, four of their last seven and six of their 13 overall this month after blowing out the Suns, 126-98, Thursday night at Barclays Center.
"The message is we want to finish the season on a positive note going into the offseason," coach Kenny Atkinson said before the Nets went out and improved to 15-56. "So for our franchise and our players, these are big games, and I think for our fans, too. Give them some hope that we're progressing."
This victory came with one caveat. Phoenix had already shut down center Tyson Chandler, point guard Eric Bledsoe and backup point guard Brandon Knight, deciding to rest them for the remainder of the season. Plus, three other players were out with injuries. The melting Suns got 28 points from Devin Booker, but they dropped to 22-50, their losing streak now at six.
The Nets, on the other hand, had Jeremy Lin back in business again. The steady point guard has missed 45 games, but his latest injury-induced absence lasted only one game because of a sprained ankle. He produced 13 points and five assists in 22 minutes.
His return from a hamstring problem after the All-Star break has played a large part in the improvement. The Nets are 6-9 since the break. And overall they're 8-15 with him starting and 7-41 without him starting.
"I compare it to football," Atkinson said. "When you have your starting quarterback, he commands the huddle. (Lin) commands the huddle ... He just has a certain aura about him. It translates to the team."
It was Nets by two at the break, and it was 57-57 three minutes into the third quarter. But then the Nets started to take charge.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson fed Brook Lopez for a dunk, and the Nets were off on a 9-0 run. The Suns were still only seven back at 70-63 when the Nets took off again. Lin scored on a drive to start it. Five players ended up scoring in a 12-0 burst.
Lopez scored 12 of his team-high 19 in the quarter, and it was a 19-point cushion after three, 84-65.
In the fourth quarter, the Nets, who got a season-high 81 points off the bench, inflated the cushion to 33 points.
They didn't look like an improved version early on, though. And the Suns weren't looking like a team tanking. They grabbed 20-5 and 30-15 leads in the first quarter.
But K.J. McDaniels (16 points, eight rebounds), a forward having a strong audition to return next season, and Isaiah Whitehead teamed for 15 points to power a 22-4 run _ from 15 down to three up at 37-34. The Nets went to the locker room at the break leading 52-50.
