Getty Brooklyn Nets stars Kevin Durant (left) and James Harden (right)
In a highly anticipated matchup between two favorites for this year’s title, the Brooklyn Nets and the reigning NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks faced off at the Fiserv Forum to kick off the NBA regular season. Reigning NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo had himself a night. He scored 32 points accompanied by 14 rebounds and 7 assists. His team also put on a superior performance, with guard Khris Middleton scoring 20 points of his own and grabbing 9 rebounds.
On the other side of the court, Kevin Durant and the Nets had a great outing, with the 2-time champion also scoring 32 points on 52% shooting from the field. As for the rest of his unit, superstar guard James Harden had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists, shooting 50% from behind the arc. Unfortunately, it was not enough, and the Bucks walked away with the win.
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Kevin Durant Calls Out Nets Shot Differential After Loss
For the Nets, it was clear that they were missing their star Kyrie Irving. But another big reason for the loss is that the Nets’ effort was not there. The Bucks took 20 more shots than the Nets in the loss. A stat that Durant says can’t happen if they expect to win.
“We can’t give a team 20 more shots than us,” Durant told reporters after the loss per SNY. “Imagine coming to a game and we say ‘here, take the ball 20 times on offense before we get an offensive possession”
The game was reminiscent of the chess match the teams had in last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals series. One that ended in an unforgettable Game 7 that came down to two clutch opportunities for Durant. But due to injuries to Harden and Irving, Brooklyn was unable to keep up with Milwaukee and would go on to win the series.
Kevin Durant reflects on tonight’s opening night loss to the Bucks:
“We can’t give a team 20 more shots than us. Imagine coming to a game and we say ‘here, take the ball 20 times on offense before we get an offensive possession'”
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James Harden Reacts To Being Named to NBA Top 75
In celebration of their 75th anniversary, the NBA is naming the 75 greatest players to grace the game. Ahead of Tuesday’s opener, 25 of the names were released. Three of the names listed were Durant, Antetokounmpo, and Harden. When informed of this news, the 2018 MVP was almost left speechless.
.@JHarden13 was shook when he and KD made the #NBA75 list 😂
Steve Nash Says Nets Still Need Time To Get On Same Page
How successful the Nets will be this season still has yet to be seen. Among NBA general managers, they are the odds-on favorite to win the title this season by a landslide. However, their is still uncertainty of injuries along with the absence of Kyrie who is missing time due to New York City’s vaccination mandate.
The loss against the Bucks could be just a glimpse of what is to come for Brooklyn. But as Head Coach Steve Nash puts it, preparation was a major factor in the resulting defeat.
“Those guys certainly only had about 16 days to get rolling here. We’ve only had 16 days to find some sort of cohesion, so that was lacking,” Nash said after the loss per Nets Wire. “I think sometimes we have to definitely look at the physicality. We need to like I said, make people more uncomfortable – There’s a lot of clarity and continuity that is missing right now … we’re just playing instinctively off each other. That takes time.”
It is just one game. But coming into a season in which they expected to have Kyrie the Nets will need to make more adjustments as the season progresses. Especially if they hope to compete for a title.
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Nets’ Kevin Durant Sends Strong Message to Teammates About Loss to Bucks