There’s been a common sentiment surrounding the Brooklyn Nets throughout the 2021-22 NBA season. Just get to the playoffs and they’ll be a dangerous threat no matter who they face. Any team with Kevin Durant has a chance to do some serious damage. It’s easy to see why.
Durant returned to the Nets’ lineup on Thursday and finished with a staggering 31 points. Against a short-handed Miami Heat team, Brooklyn ended up losing 113-107.
“I felt great,” Durant said. “I’m only going to get better, more comfortable out there.”
The Nets jumped out to an early 35-23 lead over the Heat through the first quarter. Brooklyn ended up getting outscored in each of the remaining quarters of the game.
Where things got particularly concerning for the Nets was in the third quarter as they scored just 17 points. Durant struggled to get shots to fall within this frame as he went 2-of-7 from the floor (28.6 percent) and the team as a whole went 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) with Durant’s lone make from deep being the only made three for the whole Nets team.
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Even despite those struggles, Durant gave the Nets a chance to win the game. With 57.9 seconds left in the game, Brooklyn faced a 109-107 deficit but his jumper rimmed out—coming as close as it gets to dropping.
When there are stretches that Durant is not clicking, it’ll take a hot quarter from Seth Curry or Patty Mills to keep the offense firing to the point the Nets need against good teams. This is where Kyrie Irving would ideally come into play, but again, he still faces eligibility issues for home games.
“I don’t look at myself as that — as a savior,” Durant said.
Right now, there’s a lot riding on Kevin Durant’s ability to stay completely healthy for the remainder of the stretch-run of the regular season and throughout a potential playoff run. Does he have enough help in the supporting cast? Right now, the Brooklyn Nets are back to .500 following the loss to the Miami Heat and remain eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.
“I know what the standings are. Everybody is telling us every day how far we have dropped and where we may end up — constantly telling us the situation we are in,” Durant said. “We understand that, and we know that each day is important.”
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James Harden was brought in to serve in part of a three-headed monster of superstar scorers that can each initiate the half-court offense. Now, he’s part of a dynamic duo with Joel Embiid as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers while there still isn’t clearance for Kyrie Irving to play home games.
There’s optimism for Kyrie Irving’s status to change before the playoffs. However, he could even face eligibility concerns once again in the play-in tournament if the Nets have to travel to Toronto in a matchup against the Raptors. Can Ben Simmons be enough of a help against a team with long wings that junk up the game in the half-court alongside Kevin Durant?
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As for Ben Simmons, he’s still working his way through some back soreness and should be back in the lineup at some point, but it remains to be seen when exactly that will be. Also, it will take an adjustment for the Nets to cater to his limitations on offense, especially with a non-shooting center like Andre Drummond.
The small ball lineups the Brooklyn Nets could deploy with Ben Simmons alongside near 7-footer Kevin Durant will be tough for teams to guard when there is chemistry established. Long-term, it’ll be tough to stop, but will everything come to together in time for a deep playoff run this season? Stay tuned…