In a shocking upset against the East’s second-best team, the Damian Lillard-less Trail Blazers secured a resounding victory in Portland on Monday, giving the Nets their 6th loss in 10 games.
One of the stories of the night was regarding Nassir Little and Kyrie Irving, who got into a clash late into the game. As Nassir Little dove for the loose ball, Kyrie Irving got trapped under his body, resulting in a rolled ankle that has Irving on the floor for a few seconds.
After the game, Kyrie would go on to call Little out for the ‘dirty’ play, saying that there’s no place for it in the game.
“It was a bad play. It was unnecessary for him to dive that far away from the ball. … There’s no place in our game for it. I get the intent from Nassir, it’s nothing against him. But it was unnecessary.”
https://twitter.com/highkin/status/1480784414623748096
It was obviously a less than ideal play, but you can’t blame Nassir for diving on the loose ball there. In the end, it’s just an unfortunate situation that (fortunately) did not cause any major issues.
For the Nets, however, the defeat has caused many to question Brooklyn’s power in the East. Despite the absence of James Harden, a Nets steam with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving should have been more than enough to beat a hobbled and struggling Blazers squad.
More concerning is that the Nets have yet to beat a contender this season, going 0-8 against the top 4 teams in each conference.
A closer look at that record does show a concerning trend for the team though, with a lot of their games against fellow contending teams resulting in losses for Brooklyn. After their latest loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, the Nets have now lost 8 games against teams that are amongst the top 4 seeds in either conference, as pointed out by u/OuraniousZefs on Reddit.
This includes two losses against the 1st seed Bulls, who thrashed Brooklyn earlier in the season quite comfortably despite a 38-point performance from Kevin Durant. The Warriors, Grizzlies and Milwaukee have also taken care of the Nets with some ease in their matchups, beating them by a 14-point margin at the very least.
In the aftermath of another brutal loss, nobody knows what comes next for the Nets. With a concerning track record of performances against contenders, they certainly have a lot to prove against the NBA elites.
For now, all we can do is watch and see how it all plays out. Now that Kyrie has returned, he will no doubt prove useful in returning the Nets to a state of bliss.
