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Showing posts with label Anthony edwards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anthony edwards. Show all posts

Nets are officially in tailspin mode after last second loss to Blazers

 


If the regular season ended today, the Brooklyn Nets would not only be out of the playoffs, but out of the play-in game all together. 

That's how far this team has fallen after a promising 13-10 start to the season, rife with surprise performances and team-centric basketball. Since that point, Brooklyn is 3-14 with bad loss after bad loss piling up, none worse than Wednesday night's near buzzer beater by Anfernee Simons in Portland. Jeremi Grant led the way for the Trailblazers with 30, while Mikal Bridges was the lone Net to top the 20-point plateau with 21. 

The Nets led 83-74 entering the fourth quarter before the Blazers went on a late-game run to take the lead. Cam Johnson tied the game inside of five seconds remaining, but Simons floater over Nic Claxton with just .02 seconds remaining proved to be the game-winner. 

Brooklyn has now last back-to-back games it should have won due to offensive and defensive breakdowns in clutch moments. 

Jacque Vaughn relegating Cam Thomas to the bench over the last ten games has produced a 1-9 record over that span. Spencer Dinwiddie bounced back with 19 points and seven assists in Portland following a tough outing against Miami on Monday. 

Even Dinwiddie, a veteran leader for the squad, has looked disinterested at times, sitting on the bench during clutch times, possibly contemplating his future with the squad. 

 The Nets are now sinking down the NBA standings and without a first round pick to call their own (Cleveland owns it) they don't benefit by selling off assets and becoming a lottery team. 

General manager Sean Marks will now be tasked with picking up the pieces and trying to salvage what has become a lost season for Brooklyn. There are some big superstar names rumored to be available at the deadline, but the Nets front office will need to evaluate age, contract status and fit on the club in order to turn around what has been a disastrous last 3-weeks in Nets World. 

Nets snap five-game losing streak with shocking win over Thunder



 The Brooklyn Nets led by as many as 32 points on Friday night at Barclays Center against Oklahoma City before surviving with a 9-point victory. 

The Nets losing streak ended at five games as Nic Claxton and Spencer Dinwiddie added 23 apiece. Cam Thomas chipped in 19 and Mikal Bridges 17. 

Brooklyn got off to a strong start in the first half but stumbled to the finish line in the second half.

Sloppy execution down the stretch saw Brooklyn's lead shrink to only six points, but It held on for a 124- 115 win.

The Nets are ecstatic to be back in the win column and head coach Jacque Vaughn can loosen his collar a bit. 

Brooklyn welcomes in the Portland Trailblazers to Barclays Center on Sunday looking for its second consecutive victory. 


Nets in danger of falling out of playoff race after fifth straight loss

 


The Brooklyn Nets are falling fast. Jacque Vaughn is pushing all the wrong buttons as leading scorers Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges are both mired in shooting slumps.

Brooklyn's 3-point shooting has gone down the tubes and its perimeter defense is nowhere to be found.

The answers may not be on this roster although the absence of Lonnie Walker IV and Ben Simmons has not helped the team's cause.

To make matters worse, the team the Nets lost to 112-101 on Wednesday night, the Houston Rockets, will hold the Nets lottery pick if Brooklyn continues on this downward spiral.

Sean Marks is at a franchise crossroads. Does he make a fifth coaching change of his tenure that started in 2016?

Does he build around Bridges and Thomas or decide to blow up the current core and build from the ground up?

All the answers will come into view later this month as the trade deadline draws near.

For the time being, the Nets are playing an unwatchable brand of basketball over the past two weeks and if things don't change in a hurry, there could be massive changes coming to Brooklyn. 

Nets lose by season-high 37 to Pelicans

 


There's no sleep in Brooklyn for Jacque Vaughn as his seat is getting hotter with each passing day and as the losses pile up.

The Nets are now 3-10 over their last 13 games and another heartless effort on Tuesday created more turmoil in Nets World.

Brooklyn had an off shooting night at 25.6 percent from 3-point range and 35.7 percent from the field.

Cam Thomas was scoreless twenty minutes, which is astonishing for such a good bucket getter. Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, and Day'Ron Sharpe were the only players in double figures. 

The Nets play Houston on Wednesday night and look to right a sinking ship. 

Nets reach new low point after loss to lowly Wizards



 Jacque Vaughn made some tweaks to the Nets starting lineup on Friday night by sending Cam Thomas to the bench and Dorian Finney-Smith to the first five.

That move backfired as Brooklyn lost 110-104 to Washington (6-25). 

It's been a tumultuous week for Brooklyn as it rested its starters on Wednesday against Milwaukee only to lose to one of the NBA's worst teams in the Washington Wizards on Friday night. 

It's almost as though the basketball gods were looking down on the Nets in contempt for resting young and healthy players. 

Mikal Bridges was not exactly pleased with the decision by the coaching staff in front office to rest him as it only allowed him to play the first 12 minutes of Wednesday night's contest. 


Now, Cam Thomas has been relegated to the bench, which could continue to create a divide between him, Vaughn and the organization.

The Nets are not exactly sitting pretty in the East and they are falling fast. 

With a trip to the Midwest including stops in: Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and Houston. The road from here won't get any easier.

Vaughn may want to consider reshuffling his starting lineup once again, as sending Thomas to the bench didn't exactly have the positive impact the coach intended. 


Nets should be ashamed for punting on Milwaukee game



 Load management is alive and well in the NBA. On Wednesday night, the Nets sat the majority of their starters, while Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges played just 12 minutes.

The Nets were in a dogfight with Milwaukee in the second half, but the organization called off the dogs before the game by sitting its best players.

This is an alarming trend in the NBA that was supposed to be curbed by stricter enforcement by the league and the addition of the In-Season Tournament.

The Nets, who will be fighting for a play-in position or possibly the sixth seed, can ill afford to just give away regular season games.

As for the fans that spent their hard earned money during the holidays to see their favorite Nets players take the court, it's a bad look public relations-wise.

The Nets organization has a lot of questions to answer to the fans and media.

If the league is serious about limiting load management, a fine could be incoming for Brooklyn. 

Nets late game blunder dooms upset bid of defending champ Nuggets




Cam Thomas giveth and Cam Thomas taketh away. That was the story in Brooklyn as the 22-year old youngster showed just how promising he can be. But his inexperience showed in the worst way down the stretch.

After Thomas hit a miraculous 4-point play inside of 20 seconds to narrow the Nuggets lead to 115-114, all hell broke loose. 

Jamal Murray hit the front end of his free throws on the ensuing Denver possession, then he clanged the second attempt off the iron, but Thomas didn't block out the shooter and Murray snagged the rebound.

The Nets waived goodbye to a potential game winning scenario as Thomas' mistake cost his team dearly.
 
Mikal Bridges had another rough night as he shot 7 of 16 for 14 points, but missed all three of his 3-point attempts.

Thomas led the way with 23, but
Brooklyn has now lost five straight and will welcome Detroit in for a back to back starting Saturday at Barclays.

The Pistons are currently mired in a 25-game losing streak and are only three losses from tying a league record. The Nets need a win in the worst way and they don't want to be on the wrong side of history when they take on Detroit. 

Durant's boneheaded foul seals Nets win in Suns Big 3 debut

 




The Brooklyn Nets got the revenge that many fans are hoping for on Wednesday night against Kevin Durant and his new team the Phoenix Suns. 

Much Durant's ime in Brooklyn, Phoenix has been unable to stay healthy with Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal  finally all seeing the court together. 

Spencer Dinwiddie was clutched down the stretch as he scored eight fourth quarter points and Cam. Thomas connected on two free throws to seal a 4-point win at Footprint Center. 

Thomas led the way for Brooklyn with 24, while Mikal Bridges chipped in 21 and Dinwiddie 16.

Booker dropped in 34 points and Durant 27, but Durant committed a bone-headed foul on Cam Johnson with just 3 seconds remaining on the shot clock where a stop would have given the Suns the ball down only two points with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Durant was adamant about asking out of Brooklyn at last year's trade deadline and with the Nets on the rise he can't ask his way back in now. 


Kevin Durant faces Nets for first time since demanding trade



 Kevin Durant had a chance to go down as a Nets legend and rewrite the history books by bringing the franchise its first NBA title.

Instead, Durant's tenure with the club became just another disappointing chapter in the history of the Nets.

Had Durant shown more leadership when the locker room was falling apart, had his shoe been one size smaller or had he stuck it out when things were getting tough, the outcome may have been different.

Now, the Nets are retooling in short order and building a roster ripe with you talent and led by emerging stars in Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges.

Both sides are better off for the divorce. Durant is in Phoenix competing for a title he most likely won't win. He's had his own problems getting his new big three of Devin Booker and Bradley Beal healthy. They'll make their debut as a complete trio on Wednesday against Brooklyn.

As Nets fans officially move on from the Durant era, a win against the friend turned nemesis would go a long way for a group that had to endure so much dysfunction with Durant and Kyrie Irving at the center of it.

Nets electric scorer mired in shooting slump since return from injury

 


Cam Thomas is a walking bucket. So when the Nets second year guard is struggling finding his stroke, it begs the question: what's wrong?

In his four games since returning from an ankle sprain, Thomas has shot 7 of 23 for 20 points, 3 of 10 for 7 points, 7 of 19 for 17 points and 7 of 20 for 19 points.

That's a combined 24 of 72 from the field and 15.8 points per game. The struggle is real for Thomas. 

It's likely a simple case of catching his rhythm, but certainly something to keep an eye on as the Nets travel to the Valley of the Sun on Wednesday night to take on Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. 

Former Net escapes scary injury with minimal damage

Mention Kyrie Irving and foot injury to a Brooklyn Nets fan and they will immediately hang their head in frustration. 

Of course, their thoughts will immediately go to the Game 4 in the second round of the 2021 NBA playoffs  injury when Giannis Antetokuonmpo slide under Irving on a layup attempt and caused the then-Nets point guard to severely turn his ankle. 

Irving was lost for the remainder of the playoffs and Brooklyn lost a devastating Game 7 with Kevin Durant's toe touching the line on a potential game winning three.

Flash forward 2 and 1/2 years and Irving is on Dallas after demanding a trade from the Nets. 

Now with his new club, Irving suffered what looked like it could be a horrific foot injury on Friday night against the Portland Trailblazers.

Luckily, Dallas' point guard avoided a worst case scenario. 



Adidas, Durant trade barbs over Anthony Edwards' new kicks

 Anytime a Nets fan hears Kevin Durant and big toe in the same sentence, it triggers the painful 2021 Game 7 playoff loss to the Bucks. 

But in this instance, Durant was speaking on Anthony Edwards new she's put out by Adidas. 

Durant was overly critical of the new shoes and the manufacturer, Adidas, took exception in a since deleted tweet. Durant is no stranger to online beefs, but the shoe giant had a comical explanation for coming at the NBA superstar.