The Brooklyn Nets will be one of the most talked about teams during the 2022-23 NBA season. The franchise was always in the news during the offseason as the entire NBA community wanted to know whether they could keep their Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons intact after an underwhelming 2021-22 NBA season.
Well, the Nets played their first game of the season against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans this Wednesday. In a highly anticipated matchup, the Nets were surprisingly completely overwhelmed by the Pelicans’ star duo of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
One of the biggest differences which fans noticed was the fact that the Pelicans were simply more physical than the Nets. Moreover, Ben Simmons getting fouled out didn’t help the team’s chances of winning the game, either.
Kyrie Irving’s Assessment Of The Nets After Losing Against The Pelicans
Kyrie Irving didn’t play like himself in the 130-108 defeat against the Pelicans. The star point guard could only score 15 points and had an awful 6-19 shooting performance.
But Nets fans would be happy to know that Irving didn’t make any excuses for having a bad game and had a very mature reaction to the blowout defeat.
Kyrie: "This is going to be a familiar theme throughout the year, and that's to consistently play w/ a competitive spirit….I don't want to sit here after every game saying we should've done this (or) that. This is is a grown man's league and the most physical team wins." #Nets
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) October 20, 2022
“This is going to be a familiar theme throughout the year, and that’s to consistently play with a competitive spirit. … I don’t want to sit here after every game saying we should’ve done this (or) that. This is a grown man’s league and the most physical team wins.”
If the Nets do not want a repeat of last season’s woes, they need to play every game with great intensity. Considering the Nets are still ironing out some chemistry issues with Ben Simmons joining the team, the fanbase of the franchise shouldn’t worry too much about it and give the team a few games to settle the nerves.
