With backs against the proverbial wall, it’s win or go home for the Brooklyn Nets tonight as they host the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series at Barclays Center.

After a loss in Saturday’s triple-overtime thriller in Chicago, the Nets are down 3-1 in the series, needing to win to force a Game 6 back in the Windy City on Thursday.

“This is one you don’t pretend about, it’s as simple as it gets: you lose and you put the uniforms away, you win and you get to play again,” Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “In this case, we have the potential to have two of the three games here, and having home court is what you work for all year, but it’s clearly about somehow, some way, whatever you have to

The Brooklyn Nets were successful in their playoff debut Saturday night, and look to go up 2-0 in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series when they host the Chicago Bulls tonight at Barclays Center.

Tonight’s game can be seen live on WWOR-TV My9, and it will be another true “Blackout in Brooklyn” as all fans have a black rally towel awaiting them at their seats.

The Nets won Saturday’s Game 1 by a 106-89 margin and never trailed in a game where their lead ballooned as large as 28 at one point. Deron Williams had a strong game, scoring a team-high 22, and Brooklyn piled up a lot of points in transition, avoiding’s Chicago’s defensive strength in the process.

“You don’t like to play when their defense is set up; guaranteed everybody

Just 48 game minutes separate the Brooklyn Nets from their first playoff berth in six years, but before they get to the postseason they have one last piece of business: Wednesday’s regular season finale here at Barclays Center against the Detroit Pistons.

The Nets are playing out the proverbial string tonight, locked into the No. 4 seed and doing a little scoreboard watching to see if they will meet Chicago or Atlanta in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs beginning this weekend.

With their spot already locked in, interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo took the opportunity on Monday to sit four of his five starters – all except Gerald Wallace – as well as veterans Keith Bogans and Jerry Stackhouse. Even though the nine-man rotation of mostly reserves pulled

It’s not often you hear the phrase “do or die game” for a playoff-bound  team in the waning weeks of the regular season, but tonight, it is in fact do or die for the Nets as they host the Philadelphia 76ers here at Barclays Center.

Tonight’s game, which can be seen at 7:30 p.m. on My9 (WWOR-TV), is do or die for Brooklyn in terms of their quest for an Atlantic Division title; the Knicks’ magic number is down to one, meaning the next Nets loss or Knicks win will clinch the division for the orange and blue.

Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo isn’t worried about that, however, as much as he is worried about the matchup between Brook Lopez and Philly’s Spencer Hawes, another 7-footer who like Lopez plays very well away from the basket.

“They’re

The Brooklyn Nets are 20-3 against sub-.500 teams this season, and they hope to continue those dominant ways when they welcome the 19-40 Washington Wizards to Barclays Center on “Noche Latina” around the NBA.

The Nets are hoping that their success against sub-.500 squads will help them snap a less positive streak, that being their current three-game losing streak. Brooklyn has lost four in a row at Barclays just once this year, and is hoping to avoid matching that by giving the Wiz their 20^th tally in the win column.

Despite their record, the Wizards will be a tough matchup for P.J. Carlesimo’s bunch, with the Nets’ interim head coach pointing to their multi-talented leader and combo of effective big men as adding up to trouble.

“They’ve very good

The NBA schedule can often be a strange one, and that wackiness rears itself tonight as the Dallas Mavericks make their inaugural appearance at Barclays Center to take on the Brooklyn Nets.

After four full months and nearly 60 games, this is the first meeting period between the Nets and Mavs in 2012-13, marking the second straight game where Brooklyn will be facing an opponent they have yet to see. Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo mentioned that point when talking about multiple-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, whose numbers are a little down due to early-season injury issues but has set season highs in both points (33) and rebounds (20) in the last week.

“I hate to keep belaboring the point, but the schedule can be very unfair; had we played them twice in November or December

It has been 74 months since the Nets defeated the Houston Rockets, but Brooklyn will look to continue their streak-snapping ways when they host Houston tonight at Barclays Center.

With back-to-back wins over Milwaukee on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the Nets snapped a 13-game losing streak against the Bucks that was tied for their longest active streak against any team. Now, they must look to snap a 12-game skid against Houston, one that dates back to Dec. 27, 2006, to continue a pair of positive streaks.

Foremost, of course, is the Nets’ current four-game winning streak, but they also stand at 19-8 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, a start that ties him with Lawrence Frank for the best 27-game start in franchise history.

If they are to get Carlesimo his 20^th win tonight, they’ll

The Denver Nuggets make their inaugural visit to Barclays Center tonight for a game against the Brooklyn Nets that will culminate the nominal first half of the NBA season for both teams.

The Nets are looking to head into the break on a two-game win streak, still riding the high of a gritty overtime win over Indiana on Monday night. That win came just one night after many players, most vocally Gerald Wallace, called each other to task for their inconsistent and somewhat individualized play – an approach interim coach P.J. Carlesimo approved of.

“It was important for us to respond and play the way we did at Indiana,” Carlesimo said, “and I think comments of that nature are great. I don’t just want to blanket endorse everyone just saying whatever they want,

On a snowy Sunday at Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets will look to avenge their worst loss of the 2012-13 season when they battle the San Antonio Spurs in a nationally-televised prime-time battle.

The Spurs have won 17 of their last 18 against the Nets, with their 104-73 victory on New Year’s Eve in San Antonio still the largest margin of defeat the Nets have faced this season – and in outscoring Brooklyn 30-5 in the third quarter of that game, San Antonio held the Nets to their lowest single-quarter output in franchise history.

Both that loss and the team's recent swoon that has seen them lose five of their last eight, are fresh in interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo’s mind, and he’s hoping he has pinpointed the catalysts for the latter as the All-Star break approaches.