The Brooklyn Nets seem like they need a break. At least most of them. Ten dudes at once in health and safety protocols about a month ago, bringing back Kyrie Irving part-time and whatever distraction that sparked, and now James Harden dinging up his knee a little bit are just some of the issues this Nets team is dealing with. An overtime matinee in Brooklyn followed by a back-t0-back cross-country tilt in Portland … is it the All-Star break yet?
But MVP candidate Kevin Durant didn't want to hear about any of that after the most recent loss in Portland. Still, not everyone in the uniform may have adopted that same killer KD Jedi stuff just yet.
“This flight to Portland was the longest I've ever been on,” laughed rookie Day'Ron Sharpe, who finished with a season-high 14 points off the bench in the 114-108 loss to Portland. “I was on the plane going crazy. I was like, ‘When this plane ride going to end.'”
Sharpe also chipped in seven rebounds, two assists, and three blocks, draining all six of his field goal attempts in a well-rounded game. He may be earning himself a spot in Steve Nash's rotation.
The Blazers shot 24 free throws in the first half. For context, they average 22 free throw attempts per game as a unit. Perhaps indicative of how wiped Brooklyn was feeling, they started the game by hacking and rotating a step slowly.
“I don't think we had the juice to follow through and finish the job enough,” said Steve Nash. “I don't know if anyone's ever had a six-hour flight between games, so I get it. I understand we're trying to dig deep late. I know our guys were tired after yesterday's overtime game.”
Blazers guard Anfernee Simons was a problem for the Nets.
What a wild finish by Anfernee Simons! 🤯pic.twitter.com/4WPKg8f7eW
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 11, 2022
The IMG Academy product had 23 points and 11 dimes to lead the Blazers, playing without their superstar Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Dame is dealing with what's sounding like an increasingly concerning abdominal injury.
The Nets had chances late, but missing James Harden, feeling fatigued and Kyrie Irving rolling his ankle a bit ultimately resulted in them just running out of gas.
Here is the diving play by Nassir Little that Kyrie Irving felt was ‘unnecessary.’ Irving rolled his left ankle but finished the game and said he’ll be available for Chicago. pic.twitter.com/4qOkQpEl6j
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) January 11, 2022
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It was a three-point game with over seven minutes to play when Kevin Durant hit a midrange shot. Durant finished with 28 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists. He was 9-of-19 from the field and drained all eight of his free throws. We're witnesses to a living legend playing some of his best basketball, even when it's not enough to carry them.
If you hypothesized that with Irving returning, Durant's minutes would tick down right away, you were mistaken. KD continues to log massive minutes that would make even New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau proud. After 43 minutes Sunday, he was up to 42 on Monday. Steve Nash's reasoning for this is basically KD wants to play and the Nets need him to win. But Nash admits it's not ideal, and they'd rather him cap around 32 minutes per game, in an ideal world. That was a luxury Steve Kerr used to have with his superteam in Golden State.
Nash doesn't want to overwork Kyrie either as he continues to ramp up to game speed.
“It would be great if we didn't have to get [Kyrie] up to 40 [minutes] tonight. … At the same time I think he's got the bulk of his preparation in his legs and is ready to play as much as needed,” said Nash.
Kevin Durant didn't want to make any excuses about playing a back-to-back in Brooklyn and Portland, or having a heavy schedule coming up:
"Who cares? That's what championship teams go through – a little adversity…everybody's schedule is f–ked up" pic.twitter.com/KVncveDOO1
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) January 11, 2022
Durant was given the chance to bemoan how many games they've been forced to play in such a short amount of days and how many miles they've covered in the air.
“Who cares? That's what championship teams go through — a little adversity … everybody's schedule is f–ked up,” said Durant.
He put a little extra mustard on those last five words, underscoring his point that they're not facing unusual adversity here. Every team is facing some weird scheduling because of health and safety protocols and postponed (or now awkwardly rescheduled) games. Durant is insisting they cannot adopt a mindset that this loss was fine or explained by valid reasons.
He's not taking his foot off the gas here and doesn't expect anyone on this team to either. Durant is all in on a championship and has little tolerance for excuses after tough losses. Even when the circumstances have conspired against them, Durant is laser-focused on winning their next game.
Nash has now indicated that he thinks Harden will be out there Wednesday in Chicago against the East-leading Bulls. He noted he would like to buy a rest game for Durant at some point, but doesn't think that will happen for the upcoming showdown. He thinks Irving will be available, and Kyrie said as much too.
“I’ll be available for Chicago,”says Kyrie on his ankle.
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) January 11, 2022
We don't get too many Big Three games. We might in the next game with some pretty hefty future playoff implications when they take on DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and a Bulls team that has already beaten Brooklyn twice … but there was no Irving in those.
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