When should the shorthanded Nets hit the panic button?
The Brooklyn Nets have lost 13 of their last 15 games. Thanks to Seth Curry and Andre Drummond, Brooklyn defeated Sacramento at Barclays Center on Feb. 14 for its first win since Jan. 21. The Nets entered the All-Star break with a loss but hopes were high entering Thursday night’s game against the Celtics.
Although Brooklyn was without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Goran Dragic, and Joe Harris, the Nets weren’t supposed to get blown out again. On Feb. 8, Boston held a 28-2 lead over Brooklyn and finished with a 126-91 win.
The story a little over two weeks later was different but not by much. The Celtics scored 126 points for the second straight time against the Nets and left New York City with a 23-point win.
At least Brooklyn was able to break 100 on Thursday night, right?
Final: Celtics beat the Nets 129-106. Seth Curry with 22 in the losing effort. Jayson Tatum looked great. Dropped 30. Nets head to Milwaukee for Saturday's game. It will be Kyrie Irving's first in two weeks. Does Kevin Durant or Goran Dragic join him? We'll see.
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) February 25, 2022
Should the Brooklyn Nets go ahead and hit the panic button?
Boston had a huge advantage on Thursday. The Celtics were down zero players. The shorthanded Nets can’t relate to what that’s like.
Boston entered the game having won nine of its last 10 games. A Brooklyn loss was expected but not a lopsided one.
There’s a lot of speculation surrounding what the Nets are supposed to become over the next few weeks. Durant has gone through a high-intensity workout but Steve Nash doesn’t think that it’s likely that he’ll play in Milwaukee on Saturday night.
Steve Nash says Kevin Durant has had 1 high-intensity workout so far, and that the team will assess him after he works out tomorrow to determine when he’ll be ready to play.
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) February 24, 2022
The same goes for Dragic, who has only played in a total of five games this year. Then there’s Simmons, who hasn’t played in a single game all season. The two of them are sidelined while they work on their conditioning.
What’s most frustrating about the Nets is how good they can be when at full strength. The thing is, Brooklyn can’t seem to get to that point. That’s why Durant, Irving, and James Harden played in a total of 16 games together over the course of their 13 months together.
The Nets have a chance to make a magical run but after their loss to the Celtics, the team has 22 regular-season games left until the playoffs start. Brooklyn needs to get Durant and Dragic back on the court as soon as possible. Hopefully, Simmons will be able to play over the next week or two.
It’s too early to hit the panic button but the Nets need a number of dominoes to fall in their favor over the next several weeks. By no means should Brooklyn be overlooked, although the team’s recent effort hasn’t been inspiring.
The Nets have gone through a lot over the past couple of months and while the morale boost that they received after the trade deadline was nice, it wasn’t enough. Brooklyn still has time left to get it together but it may not be enough if it can’t debut its true starting lineup in the (very) near future.
