Several Brooklyn Nets players spoke throughout training camp about shedding the team's “soft” reputation from last season. But “soft” was an accurate description of the Nets in their season opener Wednesday night.

The Nets were manhandled by the New Orleans Pelicans 130-108 before a home crowd of 18,000. Brooklyn lost the rebounding battle 61-39 and got outscored on second-chance points 36-4. Kevin Durant pointed to his team's lack of effort on the glass postgame as a deciding factor in the blowout loss.

“Just one of those games where you just don't do the small things well at all,” Durant said. “36-4 second-chance points. Never gonna win like that.”

“We have to box out, put a body on people, not let them get in our paint on defense,” he continued. “You let a team get in your paint, you leave your guys on the perimeter, now they’re crashing for the glass, so we’ve got to keep the ball out the paint. If they’re shooting over us, then their team’s got no choice but to get back on defense instead of crashing, so we’ve just got to keep teams out of the paint.”

It is worth noting that the Pelicans offer one of the worst matchups in the league for the Nets. New Orleans' sizable frontcourt of Zion Williamson (6'6″, 284 pounds) and Jonas Valanciunas (6'11”, 265 pounds) physically dominated Brooklyn around the rim. Williamson appeared in his first regular-season game since May 2021 but did not miss a beat, scoring 25 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Valanciunas grabbed a game-high 13 boards, six of which were offensive.

“They beat us in every category tonight,” Nets head coach Steve Nash said postgame. “My message to the guys was just raising our standards of competition. We gave up 21 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over. We let them in our paint way too often. Things we had been preparing for, we’ve been working on, and we just didn’t execute.”

Brooklyn's lack of size and depth at center was a concern heading into the season. Nic Claxton will serve as the starter and played well in spurts Wednesday, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. However, the fourth-year big will have trouble against bigger bodies at just 227 pounds. After letting Andre Drummond walk in free agency, the Nets are limited to second-year big Day'Ron Sharpe and small-ball option Markieff Morris as backups.

Sharpe was overmatched in 23 minutes Wednesday. It is difficult to envision the 20-year-old being a championship rotation player at this early stage of his career. Morris played just three minutes in the opener. The 34-year-old offers a floor-spacing option but will struggle to rebound against traditional centers at 6'8″. To make matters worse, Ben Simmons looked tentative and made little to no impact on either end in his long-anticipated Nets debut.

The lack of depth at center will likely force general manager Sean Marks to turn to the trade market this season. Nash said the Nets are aware of their lack of size in the frontcourt, which makes gang rebounding and outhustling opponents a necessity.

“We’re never going to be the biggest team, we’re not going to lead the league in rebounds, but there’s still a level of understanding that that’s a weakness for us,” he said. “We’ve talked about it every day. We have to come back and double-team on the glass and flood it. That’s a part of just being competitive and being aware and understanding where our weaknesses are and trying to combat them from the start.”

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Following a lethargic preseason loss to Miami two weeks ago, Kyrie Irving said Brooklyn doesn't want a lack of hustle and physicality to be their M.O. this season.

“We’re not playing hard enough,” Irving said. “The most physical teams usually win ballgames, especially down the stretch. So we’ve got to be tougher.”

New Orleans offered a similar style of play as Miami and got the same uninspired effort from Brooklyn in return. This had Irving relaying the same message postgame Wednesday.

“We talked every day for the last two weeks about what we want to have as an identity as a team and tonight we didn’t show that,” Irving said. “We have to improve on these areas that are considered weaknesses right now. And that’s boxing out and doing the little things.”

“Those details are really going to dictate our season,” he continued. “It’s how often and how consistent are we going to be dedicated to doing the little things, which is boxing out as you saw. The same plays that demoralize the fans at home demoralize us as players on the court when they consistently get second-chance points and offensive rebounds and they’re doing the little things that really decide a game at times.”

Despite their lack of size at center, the Nets have the length and athleticism to make things difficult for bigger bodies. Simmons and Royce O'Neale offer above-average defensive versatility and rebounding on the wing that should help assuage issues at center. There were flashes of this Wednesday with Brooklyn doubling the post, rotating and crashing the glass on certain possessions. However, that collective effort was few and far between in the loss.

“I don’t want to sit in this seat after every game and say, ‘We should’ve done this, we should’ve done that',” Irving said postgame. “This is a grown man’s league, and the most physical team wins, and New Orleans came in with intent to show us why they’re going to be in the hunt for championships in the next few years.”

As Irving said all preseason, actions speak louder than words. Until the Nets prove themselves on the court, the “soft” reputation that the team wanted to avoid will remain throughout the league.