The Brooklyn Nets came into the season knowing that wins would be a lot harder to come by without the services of their starting point guard Kyrie Irving. However, nobody expected the Nets to start as slow as they have in their first three games. The Nets lost their home opener to LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday by a score of 95-110. They are now 1-2 on the season.
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Kevin Durant Sounds off About Kyrie Irving’s Absence
Kyrie’s absence is certainly felt by the Nets and the worst part is there is no date for his return. But Nets’ star Kevin Durant is not using Irving being gone as an excuse for his team’s poor play.
“We definitely want Kyrie Irving out here on the floor, and he is a huge part of what we do, but it is not happening right now,” Durant said per Kristian Winfield of the “New York Daily News.”
“So we’ve got to figure it out, but no one is going to lose confidence while we’re playing and hope Kyrie comes to save us during the game. No, we’ve got to play.”
Kevin Durant: “We definitely want Kyrie Irving on the floor, and he’s a huge part of what we do, but it’s not happening.”
Says nobody is sitting on the court and “hoping Kyrie comes to save us.” #Nets
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Durant Says the Nets Have Enough to Win Games
The game was close for most of the contest as the Nets led 58-50 at halftime. But Brooklyn crumbled during the game’s key moments as they were outscored by the Hornets 32-17 in the 4th quarter. Even worse Ball did not play a single minute of the final frame. Durant knows that even without Irving, he and his teammates have yet to play to their full potential.
“I am not about to say that we’re not going to have enough out here, I am not going to say that…. They played a better second half. It’s three games in. Of course, we have enough,” Durant continued.
“Everybody here is confident in what they do. We’ve just got to play. It is a matter of us coming together and figuring out which way we need to play on both ends of the floor, and that is just a matter of it being early in the season and us figuring out these lineups. The good part about it is we have a game tomorrow.”
Steve Nash Calls Out Nets’ Effort
Nets head coach Steve Nash echoed Durant’s sentiments and already for the second time, this season called out his team’s effort. Something that he knows will have to be corrected if they hope to be one of the NBA’s top contenders.
“We weren’t sharp enough. We weren’t competitive enough, even offensively to take the ball to the basket,” Nash told reporters after the loss per NetsDaily. “We turned it over. We settled for difficult shots instead of playing with energy and pass instead of trying to get to the basket.”
It is only three games into the NBA season so it is not time to hit the panic button on the Nets yet. But the team is clearly feeling the void of Irving and will need to address it sooner rather than later. With the emergence of teams like the Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, and Chicago Bulls the Nets cannot afford to fall too far behind in the Eastern Conference standings.
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Kevin Durant Gets Candid About Kyrie Irving’s Absence After Blowout Loss