Getty Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant exchange words after the Nets loss to the Sixers.
The Brooklyn Nets came into San Francisco for their matchup with the Golden State Warriors looking to snap a three-game losing streak as they have begun to tumble toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff standings. In their first meeting with the Warriors at Barclays Center earlier this season, Golden State made their presence felt with a wire-to-wire victory over the Nets. Brooklyn had revenge on their minds, looking to return the favor at Chase Center. But in the end, they would fall to the Warriors for the second time this season and a 4th consecutive loss overall.
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LaMarcus Aldridge Leaves Warriors Game in Walking Boot
The Nets were already without three of their starters against the Warriors. Kevin Durant is out 4-6 weeks after spraining his MCL earlier this month. Joe Harris has not played since November 12 as he continues to recover from an ankle injury that required surgery. And James Harden is nursing a hand strain that he suffered during the week. Now another key Nets player could be out of the rotation as Brooklyn’s starting big man LaMarcus Aldridge left the Chase Center in a walking boot after the loss to the Warriors per ESPN’s Nick Friedell.
Steve Nash Applauds Nets Effort
After leading the Eastern Conference standings for most of the season, a 4-game losing streak has the Nets in 6th place. But despite Brooklyn’s 106-110 loss to the Warriors, Nets head coach Steve Nash applauded his team’s effort down the stretch.
“I’m proud of the guys. They fought. They stuck with it and that’s a difficult team to defend that does things differently than most of the rest of the league,” Nash told reporters after the loss per NetsDaily. “We did very well in stretches and we were poor in stretches but we didn’t fracture. We stayed with it. We kept working at it. We kept fighting for it. I’m really proud of the way we fought back in the game. I thought we got better tonight.”
Kyrie Reacts to Nets Losing Streak
The Nets trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half. They nearly completed an inspiring comeback behind 32 points from Kyrie, who hit a clutch three in the final minute of the game to cut the lead to one. Despite falling, Irving says that it is important for the Nets to not get down on themselves and stay the course of the season.
“We can’t be fragile,” Irving told reporters after the loss per NetsDaily. “People are going to come at us. Nobody is going to feel bad whether this guy is in the lineup or this guy is not in the lineup, every team is competing for those top four positions with one of those teams having aspirations of playing down in the late postseason. These games right here, you’ll remember them because you’re going against a Western Conference team that can potentially see you down the line. You never know what can happen.”
The reality for the Nets is that in their current state, they are faced with the task of managing a depleted roster. Unless they are willing to make a move before the February 10 trade deadline, they will have to learn to win with the available players they have. As it stands now the current players on the injury report will be out for the foreseeable future.
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