Panic Mode in Brooklyn?

Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams (8) drives around Atlanta Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll (5) in the first quarter of Game 4. (Kathy Willens/AP)

With a Game 5 loss to the Hawks in Atlanta, the Brooklyn Nets are now down 3-2 in the series. The home team has won every game during the series and Brooklyn looks to do it again at home on Friday.

Deron Williams had yet another poor outing. He finished the game with five points, six rebounds, six assists and two turnovers in 32 minutes. For the third time this series he finished in single digits across the board.

Joe Johnson showed some light with 18 points and nine rebounds. He kept the Nets in the game late, but didn’t have enough to close out the game. He has been pretty consistent throughout the series, regardless of the unnecessary booing from the Hawks crowd, and I don’t see things changing for Joe.

Game 6 in Brooklyn will be a win or stay home. If Deron and Brook Lopez can’t get back their ways of Game 4, they don’t stand a chance. The inconsistency throughout the regular season has surely carried over into the playoffs. Going against the best team in the East, they’re going to need to click on all cylinders.

With a loss, the Nets are out, and it’s onto the offseason. Brook Lopez has to option to opt out of his contract, and test the free agency. Billy King cannot afford to lose him. Locking him up long term should be the number one focus. Without him, the team will fall apart, more than it already has. The draft is not somewhere the Nets can look for pieces since most of them are traded away. Free agency, maybe? Don’t think so. The mega contracts the Nets have from Joe Johnson and Deron Williams restrict them from making big offers to other stars. In the last year of Mikhail Prokhorov’s five-year plan to win a title, his odds seem to be dwindling.

Can the Nets make a turn around in Game 6 and force a seventh? Definitely. The way they have been playing at home to close out the regular season and into the playoffs has been astounding.

Can they lose Game 6? Sure. Going against the number one seed and being as inconsistent as they have been, an early exit may be looming.