The Brooklyn Nets sparked an incredible comeback through the winter months that saw them go from mid-Conference strugglers to one of the elite teams in the East. Kevin Durant was a huge part of their success, given how the Nets have regressed to being a poor team since the star went out.
Their winning run wasn’t just because of KD, as Nicolas Claxton elevated his level of play to become one of the frontrunners in the Defensive Player of the Year race. That campaign has been severely dampened after the Boston Celtics beat the Nets by 143 points with Celtics’ center Robert Williams having a decisively better defensive performance than Claxton.
After the game Claxton got defensive while speaking to the media and implied that this result is an outlier, saying that the Celtics wouldn’t be able to beat them like this again even if they played 10 more times.
“If we play them 10 more times we don't get beat by this much. We'll see them again.”
– Nic Claxton on the Celtics pic.twitter.com/iU4dc1agAd
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 2, 2023
Whether you lose by 1 point or 40 points, a loss is a loss. The Nets could tumble down the standings with a few more losses, as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat are catching up to their 31-20 record as the fourth seed.
Are The Nets In A Position To Compete For A Title?
This team looks extremely different when Kevin Durant is not on the court, so judging the team’s strength by this performance is hard to do. However, it’s evident that this supporting cast can’t win games consistently without KD as they are 4-7 in their last 11 outings. Even Kyrie Irving isn’t enough.
The team desperately needs to look at making trades to make minor improvements around the roster. Their defensive and offensive consistency outside their star players is lacking. Maybe adding someone like Alex Caruso could really help them out, provided they’re willing to make changes instead of standing pat in the next week.
The Celtics are far better than the Nets on paper and it is becoming increasingly clear that even with KD back and healthy, the Nets don’t stand a chance against a team like Boston.
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