Former Longhorn Kevin Durant had a career night that quite simply will not matter, as the Brooklyn Nets needed a win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday to avoid the play-in tournament.
The 122-115 loss to Trae Young’s Hawks officially cemented the Nets in the play-in tournament, where they will have to battle it out to even earn a spot as one of the top eight seeds. It’s not to say Durant didn’t give it his all, as he scored a career-high 55 points on 19-of-28 shooting from the field and making eight out of his 10 threes.
It wasn’t the lack of offensive support from his teammates that frustrated Durant, an that says a lot considering the eight players not named Kyrie Irving combined for a measly 29 points, it was rather the defensive effort that didn’t sit well with Durant. After the game Durant told ESPN’s Nick Friedell that the team was undisciplined on the defensive side of the ball.
We’re fouling early. We put them in the bonus early every quarter; 37-14 [difference in] free throw makes. And it’s not ’cause of the refs, it was because we’re reaching and being undisciplined and just playing too aggressive. That’s the game. They shot 42% from the field which is great defense, 31[%] from the 3. They outrebounded us by two, and one more assist than us … it’s just fouls. And we can’t do that if we want to be a winning team.
With the play-in tournament starting in less than two weeks, the Nets need to figure something out on the defensive end, and they need to do it quickly as there is no sign that Ben Simmons will be able to play.