Ever since superstar Kevin Durant has been out of the lineup with a sprained right MCL, the Brooklyn Nets have started games poorly. Thursday’s 117-112 loss to the Phoenix Suns was more of the same.
In a game in which the Suns did not have the services of Devin Booker or Chris Paul, the Nets still found a way to start a game on the wrong foot. Even though Brooklyn ended the second quarter down 35-29, they were down by as many as nine points in the period thanks to Suns center Deandre Ayton getting anything he wanted.
The good thing is, despite the poor start, Brooklyn was able to come back from being down as many as 24 points in the game to make the fourth quarter interesting. Also, Kyrie Irving, who had only nine points going in the fourth quarter, woke up and had a performance worth telling stories about with 21 points in the frame. However, it was proof that the Nets can compete during Durant’s absence, but they have to be ready to go from the start.
A five-point loss makes the game seem closer than it actually was and considering how most of the game played out, the Nets should have lost by 20-30 points. Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn spoke postgame about how Brooklyn didn’t come to play for most of the game:
“Yeah, really unfortunate. Our start. I was really looking forward to the challenge for this group to see how we responded after a loss in San Antonio. Just overall, there was a lot of areas where there was offensive rebounding at the beginning of the game. A couple defensive breakdowns at the beginning of the game. We talked about each possession having a meaning and carries value and what are you asked upon as a teammate to do every single possession? That’s what we had as a group trying to capitalize on that. Talked about it yesterday, expectations and we just we didn’t come to play the beginning of the game.”
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