The Brooklyn Nets just lost to the Dallas Mavericks for the second time this season in the most shocking way possible. With the game tied at 93-96, the Dorian Finney-Smith fouled Kevin Durant on a 3-point attempt with less than 7 seconds on the clock. KD proceeded to drain the first with a chance to tie the game up but proceeded to miss the next 2.
Those misses plopped KD’s Nets to a 4-7 start on the season while the Mavericks improved to a 6-3 record behind Luka Doncic’s 9th 30-point game of the season. Fans around the NBA couldn’t believe that KD lost the game at the free throw line, with the Mavericks’ broadcast also showing a graphic of KD not having missed a free throw since October 26.
Durant had made 62 straight free throws up to the point that he missed the 2nd of 3 needed to tie the game
This last ditch effort almost worked
God hates brooklyn pic.twitter.com/qk6e0hztZf
— Dom2K 🎅🎇 (@Dom_2k) November 8, 2022
KEVIN DURANT CHOKED ON THE FREE THROWS AND THE MAVS WIN. I WILL BE SLEEPING GOOD TONIGHT pic.twitter.com/rszoddXVhL
— lynz (@lynziekate) November 8, 2022
DEREK HARPER JUST GOT A DEFENSIVE STOP ON KEVIN DURANT AT THE FREE THROW WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE
— Panda Hank (@pandahank41) November 8, 2022
Gotta think Josh Green's psychological warfare impacted the Durant free throw. Gonna go ahead and add another point to his stat line
— Mavs Lad (@MavsLad) November 8, 2022
The Mavericks head coach chose to put their own mediocre free throw shooters in a free-throw shooting competition with Kevin Durant and they came out on top.
Basketball is weird lol
— The People’s Tweeter (@RKonkle_Mavs) November 8, 2022
Wow. Durant's free-throw streak ends at 62, at the worst time.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) November 8, 2022
DURCANT hit free throws
— Jahmeir D. ✭ (@JDCowboys4Life) November 8, 2022
— Cancun Stan Account (@DjStank1225) November 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/wordtoja/status/1589847278889893888
It was the longest free throw streak for him personally and a Nets franchise record.
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) November 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/Reezykek/status/1589847383948824576
This loss keeps the Nets toward the lower half of the Eastern Conference as their 3-game winning streak was snapped by a team that has beaten them earlier in the season. The responsibility for this loss will weigh heavily on KD, as the Nets’ supporting cast showed up in the fourth quarter to go on an 11-0 run that made it a one-possession game.
KD ended the game with 26 points on 50% efficiency.
Can The Brooklyn Nets Be Competitive This Season?
Performances by the likes of Joe Harris and Cam Thomas tonight were encouraging signs of what this Nets team can be when everything works optimally. Kyrie Irving’s return status is still under question as his suspension won’t end until he meets certain conditions set by Joe Tsai.
The Nets are a better team than their record indicates, but all of the upheaval and on-court inconsistencies are dragging this team down. Kevin Durant has shown up in the big moments so far but tonight, he let the Nets and himself down. We can’t count on it happening multiple times through the season, so the Mavs might have been lucky to avoid OT.
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