"Nothing has come easy for the Nets this season.

They started out with one of the NBA's hardest schedules, playing 14 of their first 22 games on the road through the end of January, many of those coming as the second halves of back-to-backs.

They also dealt with several debilitating injuries, including losing their only post presence, Brook Lopez, to a broken foot days before the season began.

But amid all of their struggles, point guard Deron Williams can see signs of improvement.

"We're still making progress," Williams said after the Nets lost to the Knicks, 99-92, at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. "We're a young team and we make mistakes here and there and the schedule's caught up with us a bit at times, but we're improving. We're winning a lot more ballgames, we're in a lot more ballgames."