Brooklyn Nets: Should fans worry about chemistry with stars’ absences?
As the Brooklyn Nets continue to add former perennial all-stars to their roster, their star players continue to be in and out of the lineup.
James Harden has been an iron man when it comes to showing up to play, as he missed just his second game as a Net due to neck tightness in recent days.
While Harden has put the Nets on his back this year, though, their other stars have struggled to stay in the lineup.
Kevin Durant had to sit out due to two separate “health and safety protocols” instances. He returned to face his former team in the Golden State Warriors, but suffered a hamstring strain and has missed the last 18 games. It appears that Durant may still be a few weeks away.
Kyrie Irving will be available to return to the Brooklyn lineup Monday against Minnesota, Nets coach Steve Nash says. Irving missed the Nets' last three games for personal reasons.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 28, 2021
Nash said Kevin Durant (hamstring) remains likely to be sidelined for at least another week.
Kyrie Irving has stepped away from the team for personal reasons a few times this season. In total, he has missed 15 games this season. The Big 3 have only played six full games together and are 5-1 in those games, but that sample size is too small to think this crew will surely win a championship.
Should we concerned about the Brooklyn Nets’ chemistry when the Big 3 return?
Look no further than last year in the bubble, where the Clippers were arguably the best team on paper. They suffered from chemistry issues, as Kawhi Leonard missed 15 games and Paul George missed 24 games due to various injuries. As a result, the duo never formed a real bond on the floor and were knocked out in the conference semifinals by the Denver Nuggets.
Think back to the 2010-2011 season, when LeBron teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and created their own version of the Big three with the Miami Heat. They ended up losing to an inferior Dallas Mavericks team in the Finals in 6 games. They lost in part because they did not have clear role definition on the team, which led to LeBron’s worst finals performance.
https://twitter.com/B24PT/status/1375973150790402049?s=20
Durant and Irving need to return to help create clear role definition among the stars. Ideally, you’d like all three stars to play the last 10-15 games before the start of the playoffs.
There is no doubt the Nets have the talent to win the championship this year, but having chemistry is just as important as having that talent, and we have yet to see if these three players have the right chemistry to win a championship.
