The Nets are 10-5 and third in the Eastern Conference, but those five losses are showing signs that the team still has a ways to go if they want to reach their NBA Finals aspirations.
Their latest loss, a 117-99 beatdown at the hands of the Warriors, was the most recent defeat against a fellow team hoping to contend this season. Golden State, coming into Brooklyn with the NBA’s best record, thoroughly dominated the Nets to snap their three-game winning streak. Brooklyn’s previous loss was a 23-point blowout against the Bulls, currently second in the East. The Nets are loaded with top-tier talent, even without Kyrie Irving, but they have struggled to show up against teams that may be standing in their way come playoff time, and Brooklyn’s head coach believes his team needs to take more strides forward before considering itself part of the class of teams they currently are struggling to beat.
“I just don’t think we’re in that category yet,” head coach Steve Nash said. “We've got a lot of work to do. We try to improve as a group, get better, and hopefully we can find a way to overcome our deficiencies by the end of the year.”
Brooklyn was expected to be a perennial title contender this season, and that still was the case after Irving was kept away from the team due to his vaccination status. That doesn’t look like it will be resolved any time soon, and the Nets will have to roll with what they have, but adjusting to life without one of their biggest stars has been the most prevalent against top-tier teams.
“We started the year with a continuity plan from last year that got thrown out the window obviously when Ky didn’t come back,” Nash said. “We’re trying to build and figure it out. When you play a really good defense, it really tests you. I think it was a really good lesson that we have to double down on some of our principles when the going gets tough.”
Golden State’s defense shut down the Nets in the third quarter, turning a five-point lead into a 22-point cushion by the end of the third. Kevin Durant was held to a season-low 19 points, while the Nets as a whole shot just 38.6 percent from the field.
“They did a good job of loading up and getting stops and getting out and running into their offense,” Durant said. “It's good to look at, and good thing we got a game tomorrow to try to get better from this.”
All of Brooklyn’s losses this season have come against teams with winning records, save for their blowout loss at the hands of the defending champion Bucks on opening night. These are teams they of course will have to figure out come playoff time, but there is no panic despite the realization that they aren’t on the level of those perennial teams just yet.
“I like where we are,” Durant said. “Guys are getting better, and all of us are understanding what we need from one another. It’s only gonna get better from here.”
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