D'Angelo Russell, Nets Clinch NBA Playoff Berth with Win vs. Pacers

The Brooklyn Nets are back in the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2015.

The Nets clinched a postseason berth in the Eastern Conference following a 108-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

Bleacher Report's Howard Beck put this monumental moment into perspective: 

Brooklyn has been one of the league's bigger surprises this season. Last August, ESPN.com projected the Nets to win 32 games and finish 10th in the East.

Few would've taken issue with the prediction at the time. The team was 28-54 in 2017-18 and only made marginal improvements to the roster. The Nets didn't have a first-round draft pick, either—a result of the ill-fated Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce trade.

Brooklyn was slowly headed in the right direction but seemed a year away from seriously challenging for a top-eight seed in the East.

Few—if any fans—foresaw D'Angelo Russell's breakout.

Through his first three seasons, Russell averaged 14.6 points, 4.3 assists and 2.7 turnovers while shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from beyond the arc. A 2019 All-Star, he's averaging 21.2 points, 7.0 assists and 3.2 turnovers and setting career highs in shooting percentage (43.3) and three-point percentage (36.5).

Jarrett Allen has taken a step forward, building a reputation as one of the NBA's better shot-blockers, and Spencer Dinwiddie is showing his big jump last season wasn't a fluke.

Even Joe Harris is enjoying a career renaissance in Brooklyn. Harris is knocking down a league-best 47.2 percent of his three-pointers and edged out Stephen Curry in the 2019 Three-Point Contest.

When the Nets fully committed to their rebuild midway through the 2015-16 season, they and their fans were signing up for a painful, arduous process. Between 2015 and 2018, Brooklyn won 69 games, the second-fewest in the NBA.

And unlike the Phoenix Suns, who had the fewest wins (68), the Nets couldn't count on a stream of lottery picks to serve as the bedrock of their long-term roster plans. They haven't had a top-10 pick of their own since 2010, when they selected Derrick Favors third overall.

The franchise was making positive steps and showing a level of commitment to head coach Kenny Atkinson. Now, all of that hard work is paying off.

The Nets are basically playing with house money. They're in the playoffs ahead of schedule and appear to have a young star (Russell) around whom they can build for the future. Russell is set to hit restricted free agency this offseason, and Brooklyn has every reason to give him a max contract.

Although the Nets are probably headed for a first-round exit, that shouldn't put a damper on an otherwise successful 2018-19 campaign.