Getty Lauri Markkanen shoots the basketball while being heavily defended in an April 4 game against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Brooklyn Nets came into Monday night’s game against the red-hot Chicago Bulls looking to notch their sixth win in a row. The Nets who are still without their superstar point guard Kyrie Irving were able to keep up with the Bulls in the first half as they went into the locker room leading 57-51 at the break. But the Bulls came out surging in the second half and took over, specifically with a 42-16 blitz in the 4th quarter. The Nets’ five-game winning streak was snapped by the Bulls in a 95-118 blowout victory led by DeMar DeRozan’s 28 points.
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Nets Nic Claxton Unloads Cryptic Message on Social Media
Already without one superstar in Kyrie, and another superstar in James Harden still trying to get his legs under him, the keyword for the Nets this season has been adjustments. The biggest adjustment for the Nets came in just the fourth game of the season when Nets head coach Steve Nash benched their starting big man Nic Claxton. Claxton eventually was re-assigned to the Nets G-League affiliate the Long Island Nets. He has also been battling a non-COVID-related illness for the past few weeks. Claxton seems to have fallen on hard times lately but per his latest social media posts, the former Nets starter appears to be trying to keep himself in high spirits.
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Kevin Durant ‘Frustrated’ by Loss to Bulls
Nets superstar Kevin Durant continues to look like a strong candidate to win this year’s NBA Most Valuable Player award. KD notched a season-high 38 points, to go along with 10 rebounds and 4 assists against the Bulls. He has eclipsed the 20-point mark in each of the Nets 11 games this season. Despite having another stellar performance, Durant admits that he is frustrated by the loss.
“Yeah, we’re frustrated. I mean, we want to win every game. It’s a good feeling being frustrated but understanding how we can get better from this, move on from this and realize we got three more games on this trip,” said Durant on the defeat per NetsDaily.
“I know we want to get better after each game and reflect on each game, but we got to start moving forward. We understand why we lost. That’s a good part.”
James Harden’s Struggles Continue
After having what seemed to be a breakout performance on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors, Harden struggled in yet another game for the Nets. He finished with 14 points and went just 4-11 from the field. Harden notes that the reason the Nets got demolished in the final frame had to do with their lack of offensive flow as a whole.
“No flow. No understanding of what was going on in that fourth quarter,” Harden said of the Nets 4th quarter performance per NetsDaily “Spacing; I feel like we got a couple of good looks but not enough pressure in that fourth quarter. We missed shots and they came down and pushed the ball, got in the paint, and made shots.”
The Nets currently sit in the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference and although things could be worse it is clear that this team is still trying to find its identity. They will have a chance to get back on track on Wednesday against the Orlando Magic.
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