Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn has had one of the tougher coaching jobs in the NBA throughout this season. He started this campaign as the assistant coach to Steve Nash, but became the interim head coach after Nash was fired on Nov. 1 following a 2-5 start.
Since Vaughn took over for Nash, the Nets are 43-32 (57.3%) and that record includes a span in which Brooklyn went on a 12-game winning streak from the end of November to the beginning of January. Everything changed for the franchise on Jan. 8 when Kevin Durant sprained his right MCL in a 102-101 win over the Miami Heat.
After a loss to the Boston Celtics on Mar. 3, Kyrie Irving requested the trade the following day and things went crazy from there. Once Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, Durant requested a trade of his own and was subsequently traded to the Phoenix Suns. All of these changes would have crippled most teams because of the amount of star power leaving the organization.
However, Vaughn found a way to coach Brooklyn to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and are set to face the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 on Saturday. 76ers forward PJ Tucker has seen what Vaughn has had to overcome and he had this to say to reporters after practice on Wednesday:
“I think he’s done great. He’s had to take over that situation and lose the best player in the league or one of the best players in the league. I think it’s pretty amazing they’re still a really, really solid team. They still won a lot of games. Even after the trade, all those guys stepped up, and play well together. It’s hard to say they’re better, but as a team, everybody’s been involved, everybody’s playing and being successful. I think they did a really good job.”
Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire contributed to this story.
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Story originally appeared on Nets Wire