NEW YORK _ The Nets have been swept out of the bubble.
The Raptors overwhelmed the shorthanded Nets and ended the series with an exclamation point, a 150-122 win on Sunday in Game 4.
It was the most points ever allowed in Nets playoff history.
They are the second team to be eliminated from championship contention in the NBA's Orlando playoff bubble, following a 76ers team that was swept by the Celtics earlier in the day.
Jacque Vaughn's team never truly had a chance in this series to begin with. The Raptors are the defending NBA champions, a team that posted the league's second-best record even after their Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard, left them for the Clippers in free agency. They own the league's best defense and a five-headed dragon of an offensive attack.
In Game 4, Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell and Serge Ibaka each scored more than 20 points. They didn't even need All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry who only played nine minutes before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Fred VanVleet, who had totaled 76 points through the first three games of the series, had a quiet night with a 9-point, five-assist performance.
The Nets didn't have enough firepower to compete with the Raptors on the offensive end, and they were a turnstile defensively. The Nets scored 122 points. Toronto's bench scored 100.
Brooklyn, of course, entered the bubble without five key players in Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, Taurean Prince and Wilson Chandler. They lost Jamal Crawford to a hamstring injury six minutes into his first game, and they lost Michael Beasley to the coronavirus before he ever cleared quarantine.
The Nets also lost Joe Harris, who left the Orlando bubble to spend time with his mother before she passed away from cancer.
For the rest of the roster, let's turn to former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green: They are who we thought they were.
Caris LeVert scored 35 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the field. Jarrett Allen finished with eight points but also had 15 rebounds. New signing Tyler Johnson finished with 13 points on as many shot attempts. Other Nets performances were largely forgettable.
For a team full of players auditioning for a spot on a team next to Irving and Kevin Durant, many did not leave a lasting impression. For Vaughn, an interim head coach fighting to retain his job full-time next season, getting swept _ no matter the roster _ is a worst-case scenario.
A sweep was on the table regardless; the Raptors had an edge in every category imaginable. But to lose the series by a total of 82 points, no matter who the opponent, was unacceptable, the likely nail in Vaughn's coffin. Even the shorthanded Magic stole a win from Giannis Antetokounmpo's Bucks.
The Nets' offseason began at the final buzzer, and general manager Sean Marks decreed re-signing Joe Harris top priority when his free agency rolls around in October.
Priority No. 2 is finding the right head coach to lead this team into the future. Priority No. 3 is identifying which players on the roster are good fits next to the team's pair of superstars. More importantly, it's identifying which players are not, and trading them for the pieces Irving clamored for in January.
The Nets' bubble pieces weren't hitting in the playoffs, and that can't be the case when the stars take the floor next season. It won't be the case: It's officially Durant and Irving's show, and they're picking the cast. It's going to be a must-watch.
