The Brooklyn Nets have had an up and down NBA season as they have had to work their way around some obstacles no other team in the league had to deal with. Because of mandates in New York City, Kyrie Irving wasn’t eligible to play in home games at the Barclays Center or Madison Square Garden.
As a result, the organization decided that Irving would not be with the team until he was eligible to play full-time. Right around Christmas, with the roster hit by positive COVID-19 tests, Brooklyn changed course and allowed Irving back.
That is right when the season took a downturn. Irving was only eligible for road games, so it was tough for the players to have any chemistry on the court with the lineup constantly changing. But, the biggest blow came when Kevin Durant got injured.
Durant injured his MCL in January and things went totally off the rails. James Harden privately requested a trade, as he had no interest in carrying the team on his own with Durant sidelined and Irving only playing road games.
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That injury is what Kevin Durant feels derailed the Brooklyn Nets’ season.
“To be honest, I feel like our season was derailed by my injury,” Durant said after Monday’s practice. “So I’m not looking at it like we’re just not a good basketball team. It’s like there wasn’t a lot of continuity with me and Kyrie [Irving] out of the lineup, that’s just what it is. When we’re all on the floor together, I like what we got.”
The Nets have been abysmal this season without Durant in the lineup. They are 8-19 overall, which included an 11-game losing streak when he was sidelined with his knee injury. Even with Durant and Irving back in the lineup, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Nets.
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Currently, in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, the Nets will likely have to win two games in the NBA Play-In Tournament to even qualify for the postseason field. If things hold the way they are right now, they would head on the road to face the Charlotte Hornets and then have to face the loser of the Cleveland Cavaliers/Atlanta Hawks matchup on the road as well.
If Brooklyn sneaks into the seventh or eighth seed in the playoffs, the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference is going to be in for a series that would normally take place in the second round, or Eastern Conference Finals.
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Playing against Kevin Durant and Irving in a first-round series is not a great reward for an incredible regular season, as the Brooklyn Nets will present a challenge to whoever they match up against throughout the postseason.
