After a lost week, after four straight losses when Brook Lopez surprisingly came up small and the Nets’ toughness came into question yet again, they have a chance to see .500 again.

And it may be the Nets’ last chance.

After Tuesday's and Wednesday’s home-and-home against LeBron James-less Cleveland, the 2-4 Nets play the Magic, go West for four games, and return home for a back-to-back against Atlanta and at Boston.

Things could change and the Nets could become a .500 team or even a playoff team if they acquire Carmelo Anthony later in the season. If anything, last week proved they need a proven go-to scorer, someone who can stop other teams’ runs or make plays down the stretch when they need them.

The Nets had no answer for the Heat on Halloween, missed seven of their last eight shots in a two-point loss to Charlotte, and were buried in the second half in Orlando and Miami on back-to-back nights over the weekend.

They really had no one to stop the proverbial bleeding.

There is a major talent difference between Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and the players the Nets have. But when those players got hot, the Nets could do little about it.

It took several highlight-reel plays by James and Wade before Terrence Williams stopped a LeBron drive with a shoulder bump. The Nets need more hard fouls or someone to be willing to draw a charge because Miami drove all over them in the halfcourt, never mind what the Heat did in transition.

The Nets also need more from Lopez and Harris, especially against teams with superior talent.

In Florida, Lopez was 8-for-33 with 22 points and eight rebounds, and Harris 6-for-14 with 20 points and five assists. Those are their two-game numbers. They should be close to single-game numbers only better shooting, more rebounds and more assists.

The Heat and Magic, two good defensive teams, have something to do with the Nets’ two top players looking that ineffective. But they still have to find ways to make plays by defending, rebounding, setting up their teammates more.

If not for Anthony Morrow’s hot-shooting night, the Heat would have destroyed the Nets instead of only winning by 12. But Morrow’s performance brings to mind the other thing that’s still wrong with the Nets – inconsistency.

Morrow, who the Nets brought in for his shooting, has had two good games out of six. Travis Outlaw, the small forward the Nets gave $35 million to for five years, also has had two good games - and they weren’t the same two games as Morrow.

At starting power forward, the Nets got two points from Joe Smith in the first three games and 13 from Troy Murphy in the last three on 6-for-23 shooting. Murphy is going to get better. He’s still working out the rust from not playing in the preseason and missing the first regular season games. He’ll be able to help the Nets. But overall, they need consistency.

They need some of their main players to have good games on the same night. They need to get consistent play from the forward spots. And they need Lopez and Harris to play like they are the Nets’ two best players.

The Nets need all these things to happen against the Cavaliers, who even without James are off to a pretty good start.

They are 3-3, have won two straight and already have beaten the Celtics this season. Former Nets coach Byron Scott has the Cavaliers playing hard and they want to prove they can survive in a post-LeBron world.

The Nets have their own things to prove because through six games they have question marks everywhere. Some of them need to be answered in this home-and-home. It could be the Nets’ last chance at .500 this season.

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Coach’s Corner
“This is a baby-step program. I know sometimes there are certain situations that want instant results. This is not an instant-result situation. This is a situation where we have to keep getting better and better every day.”
- Avery Johnson on his team needing to get tougher

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Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)