After surrendering two straight to the likes of Washington and a heartbreaker in the city of brotherly love, the Brooklyn Nets failed to enter the win column, dropping their third straight to an Eastern Conference powerhouse, the Indiana Pacers 103-86.

The Nets continue to regress and now sport an overall regular season record of 9-18.

Any time these two teams match-up, a grind it out possession by possession game is to be expected, due to the half-court offensive styles these two teams execute, and that's what occurred tonight...... until Indiana's perimeter swingman Paul George and shooting guard Lance Stephenson decided to end the competitive tango.

Nets and Pacers Keep It Close Early

George and Stephenson combined for 52 points, with George scoring 26 points, grabbing six boards and dishing five assists; while Stephenson enjoyed his Junior's cheesecake, as the Brooklyn native was cooking in his environment recording 26 points, cleaning the glass with seven rebounds and also promoting the fact that sharing is caring dropping 5 dimes, all while establishing that he is one of the best two-way shooting guards in this league.

A close game early, as both teams subjected each other to poor offensive execution ending the first quarter with the Pacers leading by a deuce to the Nets 17; the Pacers took control of this game in the second and put it out of reach in the 3rd, accumulating their highest advantage over the Nets up to 24 points.

At the end of the half the Nets only trailed by six, 39 to the Pacers 45, but the increase in defensive pressure by the Pacers halted the Nets and their offensive success, as they exploded out of the intermission period on a 15-4 run solidifying their control on the game, as well as, hitting the 70 point mark on a 4-foot made jump-shot by Pacers forward Ian Mahinmi with 4:09 remaining in the 3rd period to the Nets 47 points.

If their frustrations weren't conspicuous regarding the overall game itself, Nets forward Paul Pierce's flagrant foul on starting Pacers point guard George Hill served as evidence with 4:22 remaining in the 3rd quarter when Hill stole a bad pass by Nets guard Joe Johnson and embarked on a one man fast-break only to be met by a close line by Pierce targeting Hills neck which ultimately led to his ejection.

To begin the fourth quarter, the Nets announcer addressed the sellout crowd of 17,732 in attendance, engaging and encouraging them to lift the Nets emotionally and "STAND UP," as he articulated through the loud speaker, which served no purpose as the fans stood and the Nets remained seated.

Every opportunity and threat the Nets posed was deflected by stellar defensive play by the Pacers, who accomplished this feat albeit missing their defensive anchor and last line of defense in starting Center Roy Hibbert due to foul trouble.

Nets guards Deron Williams had 9 points and 8 assists; Joe Johnson scored 17 points; and off the bench, guard and journeyman Jason Terry provided a spark totaling 11 points with 8 coming within the 4th quarter.

As Terry connected for two back-to-back three's with 5 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter reducing the Nets deficit to 18 points, 98-77, Stephenson answered with a three of his own pushing the lead back to 21, 98-77.

He was having one of those nights playing in front of his home crowd, an individual home game for Stephenson, as he posed with friends and family for pictures after the match had commenced.

In other words, Stephenson earned his Juniors Cheesecake, in a resounding and resonating fashion.

The return of Williams and Brook Lopez to the Nets lineup brought hope to the franchise which experienced tough times early in this season and the now loss of Lopez for the season creates even more of an uphill climb for the Nets to achieve respectability in a conference that has failed to live up to the hype which revolved around the celebrated pre-season player transactions.

The Nets will have to contribute down low on offense and defense by committee which means larger roles for Forward Kevin Garnett, rookie center Mason Plumlee, and Forward Andray Blatche.

The various injuries the Nets have been obligated to this year, I would think have served as a learning curve for first year head coach Jason Kidd forcing him to make intelligent in-game basketball decisions on a game-by-game basis.

Jason Terry Looking Forward

In the postgame festivities, Terry shared his thoughts on the overall state of the Nets.

"We're together," said Terry to media correspondents in the Nets locker-room.

"It's just a matter of us picking it up. If we have to get kicked in the butt whatever we have to do, we must pick it up," Terry added.

He even suggested their future Christmas day matinee with the Chicago Bulls.

"It's a great opportunity for a team to come up in here like Chicago, who's going to make you play hard each and every possession, all is not lost and we get another opportunity here at home on a special day and what better Christmas present to get than a win against the Bulls," Terry continued.

The Nets host the Bulls on Christmas Day and what follows is a pre-determined schedule that could influence the Nets franchise to make some drastic changes. After the Bulls, the Nets will host a winnable game against the Milwaukee Bucks, and then the plot thickens the day after the Bucks match, at Indiana, at the San Antonio Spurs and at the Oklahoma City Thunder.

So long to the team who posed a possible threat to the Miami Heat; now they must modify the dreams of the front office and its billionaire owner from Russia with love, Mikhail Prokhorov. With their injuries, stars failing to perform at the highest level, and a first year coach struggling to find his way on Flatbush and Atlantic Avenue, the Nets need more than hope they need luck, in the toughest place to find it especially in the city that never sleeps, as everyone else is up searching for their own.

Bogdanovic Scores a Team-high 28 Points

You can relax Brooklyn Nets fans, you’re in!

Your team made the playoffs.

At the expense of an up-and-down year, injuries and not having the pleasure of controlling their own fate, the Brooklyn Nets qualified for the 2015 NBA Playoffs, which is more than we can say about the other team across the river.

But we won't go there, these are happy times and with the Nets 101-88 win over the young and restless Orlando Magic, the home-team has given life to the Barclays Center for two more home games, and more, if necessary.

The Nets improved to (38-44) to complete their 2015 campaign, while the Magic fell to (25-57), another trip to the lottery.

And this feat only came into fruition when the Indiana Pacers, scheduled to play two hours before the Nets tip-offed against the Magic, challenged the Memphis Grizzlies and failed to mirror the same result, losing 95-83.

As far as the Nets are concerned and their faithful fans, it's not the ideal method you would've liked for your team to make the playoffs but you'll take it.

They did what they were supposed to do and that was simply handle their business against a team they were expected to beat.

It didn't look that way early on in this contest.

The Magic held minimal leads in the first half of this regular season finale and even led by ten in the third quarter, 65-55 with 8:22 remaining.

At that point, the Nets seemed to turn the tables and made one final push, run towards saving their season which favored their efforts.

An increase in defensive pressure forced missed shots an allowed the Nets to generate a 10-3 run, courtesy of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Jarrett Jack and Bojan Boganovic which cut the deficit to three, a 68-65 Magic lead with 5:41 left in the 3rd.

More of the same would continue for the Nets to end the third, in which they tied the game at 75 all, into the 4th quarter where other Nets-not mentioned above, had their moments in contributing to the win.

Mason Plumlee, off of an offensive rebound, converted the go-ahead basket at 81-80 with 9:33 left in the 4th, giving the Nets their first lead of the night since their brief 33-32 lead-midway through the 2nd quarter.

Then Joe Johnson responded to a made layup by Magic big-man, Nikola Vucevic, regaining the lead on a running jump-shot, 83-82 at the nine minute mark.

Brooklyn Nets shotting guard, Joe Johnson

The game, at this juncture in time, reached that moment where the next-5 minutes would decide the victor, and fortunately for the Nets and the 17,098 fans in attendance, they executed during that stretch and out-shot the competition.

Thaddeus Young chipped in five points, followed by treys via Johnson and Bogdanovic and before you knew it, the Nets were up 98-86 with three minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, providing relief among the fans and especially their head coach, Lionel Hollins.

Brooklyn Nets power forward, Thaddeus Young

"I am just thankful that our guys stepped up and did what they had to do," said Hollins during his post-game press conference. "That is the only thing that they had control of, was going out there. I thought that this was a big team win."

And it was.

I mentioned various names who played an integral role in this game because they all mattered.

Five players for the Nets finished in double-figures, featuring: 16 points by both Johnson and Young, 14 from Brook Lopez, 10 by Williams and a team-high 28 points by Bogdanovic, including four of eight from three-point range.

"It's a nice feeling to get a career high but it's not most important thing for us," said Bogdanovic post-game. "We have to wait for the other game to be in the playoffs. And I hope that (Indiana win) doesn't happen."

I think the most important thing that didn't happen was the Magic playing spoiler, a team who had nothing to play for.

Those teams, lottery projected teams, pose the biggest threat to teams who aspire to make the playoffs, and last night, the Nets survived a dominating performance inside by Vucevic and another piece of the Magic's future in Victor Oladipo's 19 points.

"I thought we did a good job of fighting, did a good job of keeping ourselves in the game," Oladipo said post-game. "Now we just gotta work hard, you know, get better, so we can make big plays down the stretch in fourth quarters."

Andrew Nicholson even showed his versatility for the away team, knocking down a deuce of threes en route to 18 points.

The Magic, a team rebuilding for a better future has a crop of respectable young talent and potential stars on their roster who will contribute to the star-power very soon, and because of that, Oladipo didn't dwell on the negatives, like the loss and the struggles of this season alone but the light at the end of the tunnel.

"I think we have great attributes to our team, great players," Oladipo said. "...Individually (we) just have to get better and as a team, collectively, as well. It's going to be a big summer for us, a big offseason."

Hey Nets fans, remember when your team mirrored this year’s Magic, three years ago?

Just kidding.

With the Nets win, they improved to 6-0 on the season against the Magic at the Barclays Center, in addition to finishing the month of April, 5-4, which proved to be the most crucial stat presently.

The Nets will challenge the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, which begins this Saturday.

And this starts a whole new holiday for me personally (April 18th-start of the NBA Playoffs).

As much as an achievement that is, the Nets haven't fared to well against the no.1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season, the Hawks, also-known-as the second team to 60+ wins in the NBA.

They don't have the blueprint to beat the Hawks, losing all four match-ups against the ATL this year and in close games.

This isn't the Western Conference where 12 teams can legitimately challenge the no.1 seed, the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game-series.

This is the same Eastern Conference that, in the pre-season, led me to believe that the New York Knicks could actually have an admirable season.

We all know what happened there and unlike the Knicks play this regular season, the Nets will have to give it their all, and then some.

The advantage the Nets have on their side going into the post-season is the fact that it’s a blank slate.

Everyone starts fresh and its 0-0 all.

What happened in the regular season no longer factors into the immediate future, a tournament style format which provides rest periods.

The Nets have a chance like everybody else to upset the Hawks and like coach Hollins said in his post-game press conference, the Nets will have to figure out what the Hawks fail to do well and capitalize on it.

And like all of Brooklyn, we are hoping the Nets can find a way to seize four more games, starting this weekend.

Athletes Rising: Becky Hammon, Danny Jacobs, and Mason Plumlee

In this episode of What's The 411Sports, the team of Glenn Gilliam, Bianca Peart, Gregory Alcala, and Chris Graham, are talking about the San Antonio Spurs elevating Becky Hammon to its coaching staff, making her the first woman to become a coach on an NBA team; and Professional Boxer Danny Jacobs' return to the boxing ring after beating bone cancer, and other stories