No Kevin Durant, no problem? That wasn't the case for the Brooklyn Nets in their first game since their star was sidelined with injury, falling to the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
The defensive focus shifted completely to Kyrie Irving, who managed to put up 24 points but largely struggled from the field. The Nets guard shot 9 of 24 from the field and went 3 of 11 from beyond the arc. Irving spoke out on his takeaways from the loss after the game:
“I think I took from it is just not to be discouraged,” said Kyrie Irving after the Nets loss. “When losses like this happen, just get even hungrier. Go in the gym, continue to prepare. Continue to do the things that have got us to this point. Live with the results. We'll just putting our work in front of us and not really pay attention to anything but ourselves and how we could collectively get better.”
"I think I took from it not to be discouraged. When losses like this happen, you just get even hungrier. Go in the gym, continue to prepare, and continue to do the things that have got us to this point"
– Kyrie Irving on the Nets' first loss with Kevin Durant injured pic.twitter.com/WWjmtX4oQz
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) January 13, 2023
It didn't help that Ben Simmons was a non-factor for the Nets on the scoring column, literally. While he did tally nine rebounds and 13 assists, Simmons was held scoreless in 26 minutes of action. Not ideal when Durant's 30 points per game were taken off the menu in Brooklyn.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn was vocal on not wanting to add any additional pressure on Kyrie Irving to produce in KD's absence, but it's clear that they're going to need him to step up in order to stay afloat.
The loss bumped the Nets down to three games back of first place against the Celtics and will try to tread water as much as they can.
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