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KD sticks it to Nets one more time, this time in return to Brooklyn

 


Kevin Durant always loved the rims at Barclays Center and he barely needed them on Wednesday as he dropped 33 to go along with eight assists and five rebounds.

The Nets, led by Cam Thomas with 25 and Mikal Bridges with 21 for the game, hung tough in the first half, trailing by just three points.

Once the third quarter hit, Phoenix blew the doors off Brooklyn with a 42-26 frame, including a stretch where the Suns went 14 of 16 from the field.

The Nets allowed the Suns to shoot 62 percent for the game and despite a late charge to cut the lead to just ten points inside 5 minutes remaining, the Nets couldn't get any closer.

Prior to the game, the Nets showed a tribute video to Durant, one that was rumored, and Durant indicated on X that he neither wanted nor deserved due to his short stint with the team.

The Nets are sinking into oblivion while the Suns seem to be finding their footing. Anything short of a Phoenix championship will be an utter failure during Durant's contract, which runs through the 2025-26 season. 

The Nets, meanwhile, are mired in a brutal stretch of basketball. With the trade deadline seven days away, Sean Marks' future with the club may depend on how he positions this roster for both short-term and long-term success.

Often injured Net lands on injury report, status downgraded

 

Photo by Doug Bearak

All it took was 18 minutes for Ben Simmons to wind up back on the injury report. According to the latest update released by the Brooklyn Nets, Ben Simmons has been downgraded from probable to questionable with a left knee contusion.

The Nets face Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns at Barclays Center on Wednesday night. 

Brooklyn has sorely missed Simmons' play making ability, but his inability to stay healthy makes him an unreliable option for the team this season and moving forward. 

If Simmons is unable to go, that will drastically reduce the Nets chances of pulling the upset against friend turned foe Durant.

While the team is not characterizing Simmons injury as anything to do with his nerve impingement, the franchise has toyed with and played around with injury updates surrounding Simmons. 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and whether this injury is totally unrelated or stems from his chronic back issues that he has had the past couple of seasons. 


Ben Simmons makes a big statement in return from injury



 Playing in his first game since November 6th against Milwaukee, Ben Simmons looked even better than Nets fans could have imagined.

In 18 minutes of play, Simmons registered 10 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, while going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. 

Brooklyn steamrolled Utah 147-114 behind Mikal Bridges' 33, while Cam Thomas added 25.

It will be fascinating to see how Brooklyn handles Simmons' minutes with a game Wednesday against Kevin Durant and Phoenix.

Simmons' nerve impingement has been characterized as a potentially chronic issue that could reoccur anytime.

It's unclear whether extra rest days and a lighter workload will minimize the risk of reaggravating the condition or have no impact. 

That part of the equation will have to be a wait and see experiment. It's something to monitor, but Nets fans at least can be somewhat encouraged by Simmons impact on the floor in his limited playing time on Monday. 

Nets nearly blow 28-point lead to Houston, escape with narrow victory

 


Another Nets nightmare almost played out again in Saturday night. After jumping out to a 28 point first half lead, Brooklyn gave nearly all of it back.

It was the latest in a slew of games where the Nets jumped out early and shrunk in big moments.

Jacque Vaughn's crew was lackluster, committing careless turnovers and showing Houston to chip away at the lead. 

Cam Thomas popped off for 37, Mikal Bridges and Dorian Finney-Smith added 19 apiece. 

Brooklyn welcomes Houston to Barclays Friday looking for two in a row. 

No Sleep in Brooklyn: Nets are becoming the butt of every joke



There aren't many smiles right now in Nets World, but the outsiders are laughing at Brooklyn's futility. A record of 4-17 over the last 21 games is not just bad, it's downright embarrassing. 

Not since the 0-18 start to the 2009-10 season where the franchise was playing the string out in New Jersey have things looked this bad. 

Yes, there was a rebuild under Kenny Atkinson in Brooklyn, not one but two failed Big Three star experiments. But at those three junctures the Nets defined a direction, no matter how misguided it was. 

All-in for three aging stars, all-in for three prime stars with supersized egos and break it all down to reset the organization and the culture. 

Brooklyn now find itself in NBA purgatory. With Houston owning the Nets picks and swaps through the 2027 NBA Draft, there is no incentive for the Nets to tank. 

If you look up and down the roster, it's hard to fathom how this team could be a whopping ten games under .500 just after the midway point of the year. The Nets don't have overwhelming superstar talent like they've had in years past, but this roster should be good enough to be around or above the .500 mark and avoiding a play-in type scenario. 

As things stand now, Brooklyn is fighting tooth and nail with Atlanta just to be in the play-in and that's with Mikal Bridges, Cam Thomas and the rest of the supporting cast.

Where do the Nets turn from here? 

Big game hunting in the form of Zach LeVine or Dejounte Murray are possible scenarios with the latter being a more feasible option and better fit. 

Do the Nets lurk in the weeds and wait for the next disgruntled superstar to ask out or be traded and make a play for him?

If that's the case, Marks will need to resupply his draft stock in a hurry to make it happen. The reality is, the more the losses pile up, the worse things look in Brooklyn and for Jacque Vaughn. 

It's never easy trading away not one, not two, but three superstar players, but that's the situation that Brooklyn is in, searching for a direction, hope and positive vibes. 

After a 13-10 start, punctuated by a win over Kevin Durant and the Suns, the Nets looked to be a fun, selfless team that could surprise a lot of people this season. 

From that point on, everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong. 

Mired in a brutal stretch of basketball, the Nets are looking for leadership. Vaughn's words seem to fall of deaf ears and the roster is filled with too many nice guys. Bridges, Thomas or the rest aren't the alpha-type of personalities that will get in guy's faces to challenge them.

The results are what they are and until the Nets find their footing and get things right, the pressure cooker is going to be piping hot for Vaughn, Sean Marks and Joe Tsai to get things right before they go from bad to worse in the borough of Brooklyn. 





Nets suffer another crushing last second loss to Minnesota

 


Mikal Bridges had two free throws to tie the game with 2.4 seconds remaining, but couldn't deliver.

The Nets top scorer missed the first attempt and intentionally missed the second with Brooklyn down 96-94. A lane violation by Dorian Finney-Smith and failure to foul on the ensuing position was all she wrote. 

Brooklyn showed grit and fight by coming back from double digits and taking haymaker after haymaker from the Timberwolves. Karl Anthony Towns led all scorers with 27, Anthony Edwards had 24 while Cam Thomas paced the Nets with 25 and Bridges added 21. 

Minnesota poured in 50 points in the paint and Brooklyn had difficulty dealing with the size and physicality the Timberwolves brought. 

Despite a spirited effort and comeback attempt, the Nets are now 4-17 in their last 21 games.

Brooklyn travels to Houston on Saturday night to face the Rockets looking to end a three-game skid.

Nets are a rudderless ship with no captain in sight

 



Who is the leader of the 2023-24 Brooklyn Nets?

It isn't Spencer Dinwiddie, whose minutes have been shrinking, and body language is showing signs of frustration with limited playing time. 

The same can be said for Cam Thomas, whose answers with the media are becoming shorter by the day as he gets frustrated with losses piling up and his minutes shrinking.

Jacque Vaughn is alienating veteran players and young guys alike as the locker room has been tuning out the coach that is already under siege. 

Sean Marks has not made public comments since before the season started and while owner Joe Tsai has been present a handful of times this season, he's given no clear direction for the franchise. 

All signs point to this being selling season ahead of February's trade deadline for the Nets, but with Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson as centerpieces, a complete rebuild isn't exactly in the cards.

So, will Marks be able to pick up the pieces from this season, add draft capital, while adding impact rotation players at the same time?

It's proposition and Nets fans have shown they're not exactly the most patient type. Serious doubt has been cast on Vaughn's coaching future with the club, adding to the uncertainty to where exactly this team is headed not only this year but in the seasons to follow.

Marks was in a difficult position when he took over as general manager in 2016 and successfully built an enviable culture that had been destroyed by Brooklyn's first failed Big 3 project. 

While Marks had two superstars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant dropped into his lap, and a third force his way out to join Brooklyn in James Harden, none of those pieces remain, just the rubble. 

Many fans have even been clamoring for the team to relocate again and return to New Jersey since the product they're putting on the court is not up to snuff. 

There is no magic sauce or formula that Marks can cook up to fix all these problems, but the first step will be to identify a direction, whether that is retooling, rebuilding, or trying to go big game hunting after available superstars. 

The Nets are currently in NBA purgatory, not holding their own draft picks and they're an afterthought in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Things have been bad for the Nets before and even bad since the move to Brooklyn, but this season may be a new low for a franchise that has experienced its share of them. 

 

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