The Brooklyn Nets really wanted this one. They wanted it badly enough that Kevin Durant played through what he said was a sore ankle and dropped a career high 55 points. In the end it wasn't enough and the Nets fell to Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks 122-115. The Hawks have now supplanted the Nets in the 8th seed, and push the Nets all the way down into the 10th seed, the very last seed in the Play-In tournament. A team who was favored to win the East for so much of this season, now dangles by a thread, despite having perhaps the best player in the sport. Weird.

We analyzed where the Nets stack up in the East and how they might fare in some first round matchups on the most recent “Nothing But Nets” podcast. Co-host Greg Dennis thinks the Sixers should be spooked by Brooklyn, he thinks Miami has all kinds of issues, and that the Robert Williams injury is a huge loss for the Celtics and all of that is good for Brooklyn. Still, he's doubtful Durant and co. can win the East.

After the game KD was in no mood to rest on his laurels and enjoy a career scoring night. He was furious his team allowed 49 free throws and made absolutely clear he didn't blame the officials either.

“It's just execution so, if you got somebody kinda bottled up and they go up to shoot and right at the last second you go like this [slaps down] it's like undisciplined,” Durant said. “And we do that a lot. We be having guys bottled up, great defense, and we end up fouling right at the end and that's just if we want to- grow an be a better team than that type of stuff can't happen,” Durant said.

Durant was asked if the reason they couldn't string stops together was a matchup problem or just a lack of discipline with all of the reaching in.

“Yeah, it's the fouling, in the first [or] second quarter we were up like five, Trae got a steal, we up five, come down get another foul. Then come right back down after that get another foul, then give up a three, like that's just, just bad basketball.”

Prior to this game, back on March 13, Durant scored 53 points vs. the New York Knicks. Per Nets team PR, this is Durant's third 50 point game of the season and that's a Nets' franchise record. It's also the first time he's scored 50 three times in a season in his entire career. Is it possible he's playing the best he's ever played? Period? Even after his severe Achilles injury?

Still, you know KD, and if they didn't win, he's not going to be happy. The Nets ran out to an early lead but Atlanta got right back into the game and crushed Brooklyn 37-20 in the second quarter. The Nets pulled to within one point with under three minutes remaining but they didn't have enough firepower. Kyrie Irving hasn't played at the same level and there's a bit of a question about whether or not he's reached peak conditioning as he acclimates to full-time player status. Irving is in a cold spell right now dating back to learning he could play full-time.

The Nets now have a couple days off and that's key. They'll hope to get Seth Curry, who they sorely missed in this one, back as he nurses a sore left ankle. If the Nets can't catch the Hawks, who came on strong this time last season and made the Eastern Conference finals, to get back in the 8th seed, they'll be in that inauspicious bottom bracket of the Play-In.

That means if the season ended today, they'd be eliminated with a single loss and would need to win two games in a row just to make the 8th seed. That's currently occupied by the Miami Heat who seemed to have got back on track a bit after their big jawing match between Jimmy Butler and Udonis Haslem.

Not much time to enjoy what we're seeing out of KD. But we should find a way. We witnessed some history, despite the team losing. Easy Money is simply ridiculous and a game like this might just end his little Twitter beef with Nick Wright once and for all.