Kevin Durant stated he wished to “beat the snot out of” the New Orleans Pelicans within the season opener.
It was the Pelicans who did the beating and the Nets who left boogers throughout their residence flooring.
The Nets walked out of Barclays Heart battered, bruised and with their tails between their legs after taking a thumping on opening night time. They by no means led, solely held the momentum as soon as — when reducing into the deficit getting into halftime — and trailed by as many as 26 of their 130-108 loss to the Pelicans on Wednesday.
“They beat us in each class tonight,” head coach Steve Nash stated after the sport. “It’s actually in regards to the competitors degree and elevating it now that the season’s right here, and that was a fantastic type of warning shot of what the usual is.”
There’s rather a lot to remove from a sport the Nets (0-1) misplaced in, as Nash stated, each class. For starters, they don’t have the scale to really compete with greater groups, as evidenced by the Pelicans’ 22-board benefit within the rebound margin and the whopping 36-4 disparity in second-chance factors.
Nets common supervisor Sean Marks selected to not go after a lumbering massive man this previous offseason to offer the Nets the scale they misplaced when Andre Drummond signed with the Chicago Bulls. Whereas the Knicks had signed seven-footer Isaiah Hartenstein — who stuffed in properly in his opener towards Grizzlies’ bruiser Steven Adams whereas Mitchell Robinson was in foul hassle — the Nets began Nic Claxton and introduced second-year massive man Day’Ron Sharpe off the bench.
It didn’t work.
Jonas Valanciunas is without doubt one of the strongest facilities in all of basketball, and ‘ Williamson’s measurement and power precedes his title. The Pelicans finally out-rebounded the Nets, 61-39, a margin equal to the 22-point deficit within the remaining rating.
“[We’ve got to] field out, put a physique on individuals, not allow them to get in our paint on protection,” Durant defined after the sport. “You let a group get in your paint, you permit your guys on the perimeter, now they’re crashing for the glass, so we’ve received to maintain the ball out the paint. [If] they’re capturing over us, then their group’s received no alternative however to get again on protection as a substitute of crashing, so we’ve simply received to maintain groups out of the paint.”
The Nets don’t seem to have a passable reply for what they will do otherwise in future matchups towards different massive groups, as a result of boxing out doesn’t at all times work when the opponent is flat-out stronger. These mis-matchups are going to return usually given the panorama of the Japanese Convention: the Bucks, Celtics, 76ers and Cavaliers are every greater than the Nets, and every of these groups undertaking to face in-between their championship hopes.
Apart from the rebounding disparity, there was a transparent drop-off in effort — as within the Pelicans flat-out outworked the Nets all night time lengthy. It was extra of the identical from final season, and the season prior, the place the Nets wouldn’t convey the battle till an opponent punched them within the mouth.
The Pelicans, extra precisely, headbutt the Nets sq. within the nostril. Their effort mirrored in each class: extra assists, fewer turnovers; higher offensive move, extra defensive depth.
“It is a grown man’s league and probably the most bodily group wins, and New Orleans got here in with intent to point out us why they’re going to be within the hunt for championships within the subsequent few years,” Kyrie Irving stated postgame. “They've a very good basis with Brandon Ingram and Zion [Williamson] after which add in a defensive-minded participant like Herbert [Jones] and [then] CJ McCollum and so they all have been clicking tonight. You see simply the unfold out of the scoreboard. They did the whole lot.”
Which brings us to the worst a part of the night time: sadly, it was Ben Simmons.
Simmons fouled out after simply 23 minutes and totaled solely 4 factors, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. He didn't appear to be the participant the Nets envision because the engine each on offense and protection. As a substitute, that engine sputtered and the Nets broke down.
Simmons, after all, was taking part in in his first official common season sport in over a yr after sitting out all the 2021-22 NBA season citing psychological well being points and a decrease again harm that required offseason surgical procedure. He, his teammates and the group are bullish on a season the place, like effective wine, he'll progressively enhance because the season progresses..
“It takes time. Having again surgical procedure and being away from the sport for a yr, there’s little issues that your thoughts would possibly inform you to go do one thing, however your physique’s not eager to go try this,” he stated postgame. “However these are the habits, that’s one thing that I simply must proceed to give attention to and be aggressive whatever the consequence.”
As of now, time is on the Nets’ aspect. This was solely Sport 1 of 82, and the Nets missed two key gamers — sharpshooters Joe Harris (foot soreness) and Seth Curry (ankle surgical procedure rehab) — in addition to a wild card in rehabbing ahead T.J. Warren (foot harm rehab).
The loss — the lopsided nature of their defeat, that's — is a reminder that this season gained’t be a stroll within the park. The Nets have all of the expertise on paper, nevertheless it’s going to take a yr’s price of video games to construct the chemistry and cohesion wanted to beat the league’s elite.
It’s attainable, so long as they don’t fracture from inside in the course of the tough stretches.
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