The Brooklyn Nets dropped back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday to the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers. The first was understandable. The second? Borderline unforgivable.
With 5:57 left in the fourth quarter, the Nets were leading the Clippers by 13 points. That’s pretty much in the bag, right? When all was said and done, LA finished the game on a 28-11 run (yup, 28 points in under six minutes!), outscored the Nets 40-29 in the quarter, and won the game 120-116.
We’re really not sure how it happened either. Eric Bledsoe, Terance Mann and Reggie Jackson ran Brooklyn up and down the court and it was clear something was off with the Nets and their defensive effort.
After the game, Durant blasted his teammates with NSFW commentary when speaking to the media, citing the Nets’ “attitude” for dropping that embarrassing game to an inferior team.
After giving up a 12-point lead in the final five minutes, Kevin Durant said the Nets had a major attitude problem entering Saturday’s game. https://t.co/8i480EBKJ3
— Nets Wire (@thenetswire) January 2, 2022
Kevin Durant blasting the Nets for Clippers loss seems hypocritical.
"“Like Coach said, we didn’t deserve to win this game. We came in here with a f–ked up attitude to start, thinking we were just gonna walk into a W,” Durant said. “Hopefully, a loss like this sit in your brain until tomorrow. … If you ain’t feeling like s–t after this game, you gotta look yourself in the mirror.”"
However … we’re just not sure KD had a leg to stand on in this instance.
We’re solely referring to one highlight we saw in this one that greatly turned the tides for the Clippers. Because, realistically, Durant is allowed to rip this team to shreds whenever he pleases based on how he’s played this season. He’s carried the Nets for most of the year, which is why they’re first in the Eastern Conference.
But with just over 30 seconds to go, LA led 114-113 with the Nets just needing a missed bucket, turnover, or even two-pointer to have a realistic chance at staying alive. Instead, they were put in the spin cycle. The Clippers’ ball movement turned everybody around and they drilled a 3-pointer to go up by four. But in this clip you can see Durant providing next to no effort on the play.
https://twitter.com/MaskedLBJ/status/1477482486766530560?s=20
OK, Durant really had no shot at defending that, but maybe for optics sake it would’ve helped had he shown a semblance of an attempt? Perhaps he called himself out in the locker room as well for possessing a poor attitude along with some of the others?
Hopefully there’s a quick adjustment here because this packed week doesn’t get any easier with the Grizzlies, Pacers, Bucks and Spurs on deck.
Nets highlight future promise despite back-to-back losses
The Brooklyn Nets may have lost two games in a row, but they're nearing full strength, which is a scary thought for the rest of the league.