The Brooklyn Nets had a tremendous opportunity on Wednesday night to turn a page on what has been a drama-laden offseason for them. A home win over Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans would have been a great way to kick things off, but unfortunately for them, disaster struck.

It was Zion and Co. who made easy work of Brooklyn on their own home floor as the Pelicans cruised to a 130-108 victory in their first game of the new season. The Nets just didn't know what hit them.

For his part, Kyrie Irving was clearly frustrated after the loss. Speaking to reporters in the aftermath of their lopsided defeat, the outspoken guard seemed to criticize his team's physicality against the Pelicans — or the lack thereof (via NBA reporter Brian Lewis of the New York Post):

“This is going to be a familiar theme throughout the year, and that's to consistently play with a competitive spirit,” Irving said. “… I don't want to sit here after every game saying we should've done this (or) that. This is is a grown man's league and the most physical team wins.”

Kyrie Irving himself didn't have his best game in this one, going for 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting with two rebounds and five assists. Irving missed all five of his attempts from deep. It was Kevin Durant who carried the load against New Orleans, dropping a game-high 32 points. It obviously wasn't enough as the Pelicans' Big 3 of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum combined for 74 points in what turned out to be a complete blowout.