Nets taking their foot off the gas in anticipation of Kyrie's return

Losers of three straight games, the Brooklyn Nets are showing signs of a team exhaling and waiting for their third star to return to the court. Call it a midseason slump, but the absence of bench production, outside of a furious fourth quarter rally against Memphis on Monday night, point to the Nets taking their eyes off the ball. Brooklyn has dropped behind Chicago at the top of the East while Milwaukee is closing ground fast. Yes, Kyrie Irving will pay when the Nets take on the Pacers in Indiana on Wednesday, but the team can't simply continue playing lackluster fourth quarter basketball and expect star power to carry it through difficult times. Once Irving ramps up and with roughly just 18 road games he's eligible for playing in the rest of the way, the playoffs will be here before we know it. The Nets have built some bad habits over this three game skid and while their talent is undeniable, Steve Nash will need to correct the team's untimely mistakes and lack of cohesion regardless of whether Irving is in the lineup or not.