In one of the more disappointing showings in NBA history, former Longhorn Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets were knocked out of the NBA playoffs on Monday by the Boston Celtics.
After starting the season as the perennial title favorites, the Nets were plagued by injuries, vaccine mandates, and unhappy stars that eventually would lead to the core of Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant being split up.
Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for their disgruntled star, Ben Simmons, who we have not seen play in an NBA game since last season. The Nets were hopeful that Simmons would be able to provide a defensive presence that they simply lacked being one of the worst defense teams in the league, but due to a nagging back injury and mental health issues Simmons was unavailable when the team needed him most.
It didn’t help that Durant had his worst overall playoff performance since the 2009-10 season, as he was held to 26 points per game on 38% shooting, while averaging a playoff career-high five turnovers per game.
Durant was stifled by Boston’s Jason Tatum all series who is making a case for the best two-way wing defender in the league. Tatum and the rest of the Celtics were able to force Durant to take contested shots and forced a lot of misses and errant passes.
The first round exit for Durant and the Nets makes them the only team to not win a game in the playoffs this season, and has many people such as TNT analyst Charles Barkley now questioning Durant’s mindset and legacy moving forward.
The first round exit also marks just the second time since the 2009-10 season that Durant has not advanced in the playoffs.
While it isn’t entirely his fault, as the roster construction consisted of Durant, Irving, a few shooters, and a slew of players three years past the end of their prime, Durant is widely being viewed as the reason for the exit.
After almost single-handedly taking out the would be champions Milwaukee Bucks last season, many expected that Durant would be able to take the Nets to the promised land, but running into the hottest team in the NBA in round one wasn’t ideal and now Brooklyn will join the rest of us and watch the playoffs from home.
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