The Brooklyn Nets fell at home to the Miami Heat 106-93 on Wednesday night. With that loss, they dropped to 2-3 on the year.
Given that this group had been penciled in for an NBA Finals berth before the year even began, obviously things aren’t quite going according to plan.
One big issue for Brooklyn is the absence of Kyrie Irving. Because New York mandates that all home athletes get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to participate in activities, he has effectively been ruled out of action. His steadfast refusal to get the shot serves as a thorn in the side of the Nets’ title aspirations and has led to his relationship with the organization rapidly deteriorating.
On Wednesday night, a reporter asked Durant quite bluntly what the team was missing right now. Why were they struggling so badly?
Durant took the bait and answered the question with brutal honesty.
“I know what you want me to say,” he replied. “Yeah we do miss Kyrie, we do. He’s a part of our team.”
Durant dropped 25 points and 11 rebounds on Miami, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to secure the win. So far on the year he is averaging 29.8 points on nearly 55 percent shooting from the field, as well as 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.
By any objective measure, Durant is killing it this year. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated into wins. The Nets have now lose twice at home, and things don’t appear to be trending in the right direction.
Devin Booker’s reaction to Kendall’s provocative Halloween costume. https://t.co/zVVOuYe4bM
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 28, 2021
It has to be frustrating for all parties involved to see leaked video of Irving running around, doing whatever – while the team that was counting on him for a title run flails without him. That said, the situation doesn’t look like it’ll be improving any time soon.
One way or another, Brooklyn needs to get it together. Because if they don’t, they may go down in history as one of the most underachieving super teams of all time.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
