Nothin' But Nets
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Nets Are Missing Pierce And Livingston

ByAnthony Parisi|

The Brooklyn Nets beat the Toronto Raptors in seven games in the first round of last year’s postseason leaving a sour taste in the mouth of all Raptors fans, players and coaches. The Raptors got their revenge on Brooklyn beating the Nets 105-to-89 on Wednesday night in a game that was close up until the fourth quarter. The Nets are now 10-14 on the season and with trade rumors starting to percolate it is becoming more apparent that the Nets are lacking some essential pieces to their roster and they might have let some of those pieces go during the offseason.

When the Nets signed Shaun Livingston last season most fans had no idea who he was, but Livingston ended up becoming a starter midway through the season and his knowledge of the game and ability to post up smaller guards made his value extremely important to the Nets. Stats don’t tell you everything about Livingston but if you watched every Nets game last season it was easy to see how valuable Livingston was to Brooklyn’s success. The Nets are missing a perimeter defender this season and Livingston was the Nets most prominent player in that role last season. Livingston at times would guard players such as Kevin Durant and LeBron James and so far the Nets have struggled to find a replacement for Livingston.

This play by Livingston sealed a big win for the Nets against the Miami Heat helping the Nets improve to 3-0 on the season against the defending champs. Livingston’s impact was underrated all of last season and looking back at it now Livingston was one of the Nets most important players last year.

The Nets are also missing ‘The Truth’ Paul Pierce. Pierce is a future hall of famer and although he wasn’t the Nets go to scorer last season Pierce’s leadership and clutch play was a dynamic reason why Brooklyn was able to slither past the Raptors in the playoffs. Pierce averaged 13.5 points per game last season for Brooklyn and his block on Kyle Lowry clinched Brooklyn a ticket into the second round.

Pierce ended the series but he also set the tone of the series in game one for the Nets. Down the stretch of game one Pierce took over for Brooklyn and let everyone know why the Nets brought him here.

Pierce isn’t as missed right now as he will be when playoff time comes around. Pierce is a player that any team wants on their side in the postseason because of his experience and ability to perform in clutch situations. Pierce wanted to come back to Brooklyn but the Nets ultimately decided to pass on him which makes the loss hurt that much more looking back at it.

The Nets decided to move on from Pierce and Livingston for money purposes, but the losses of those two players is hurting their team on the basketball court. I wonder if Billy King had a second chance if he would have approached things differently.

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