In Kevin Durant’s long-awaited return to Barclays Center Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets lost to the Phoenix Suns, 136-120, snapping a two game winning streak.
This was Durant’s first time playing in Brooklyn after requesting a trade during last year’s turbulent season. He was met with many cheers and some boos.
Two days removed from the magnificent return of forward Ben Simmons and their largest win of the season against the Utah Jazz, the Nets have gone back to their losing ways. Unsurprisingly, Ben Simmons was out with an injury, along with Day’Ron Sharpe and Dorian Finney-Smith.
The Suns took advantage of the Nets' bench packed with injured players, as Durant and guard Devin Booker finished with 33 and 22 points to go along with eight assists each.
For the Nets, guard Cam Thomas and forward Mikal Bridges, led the way on scoring with 25 and 21 points respectively.
Brooklyn proved to be no match for Durant and company. They got bullied on the glass, losing the rebounding battle 42-27. Suns center Jusuf Nurkic had himself a day with a 28 point double-double on 11-15 shooting from the field. At times, Nurkic just got whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
This was especially the case whenever the Nets employed their small-ball lineup.
Late in the second quarter with nobody above six foot eight on the court for the Nets, the visitors just spammed Nurkic in the low post against anyone and everyone. It led to eight straight Nurkic buckets and a swift timeout from Jacque Vaughn.
That said, some credit should go to the Nets as they kept rallying and leveling the score. The score was 64-61 in favor of the Suns at the half, after the Nets led for most of the first quarter.
Durant and Booker really left their imprint during the second half. Silky smooth shots from the two perennial allstars reminded the Brooklyn crowd what they were missing when Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden were donned in black and white.
After Durant hit a highly contested three, followed up by his trademark pullup jumper, which ballooned the lead to 14 points in the third, the game was lost for the home team.
The Suns eventually extended their lead to 19 to end the quarter and rode it out all the way to the end. Veteran Eric Gordon helped put the game away for Phoenix, burying three after three in the final five minutes of the game. He finished with 17 points, draining five of his nine three point attempts.
The Nets did have a late spark from Cam Thomas but it was too little, too late. Now, the playoffs seem more like an afterthought with Brooklyn losing 14 of their last 20 games.
Simmons’ return to the court several days ago from injury ignited hopes of a significant turnaround for a team that has desperately needed it. In only 18 short minutes of action against the Jazz, Simmons’ pace and vision on the court made an offense that has struggled with consistency look like an absolute threshing machine.
However, today’s game revealed two things. First, the Nets desperately need Simmons to stay healthy in order to make the play-in and have a shot at the playoffs. Second, the Nets cannot count on Simmons to be healthy.
The Nets are 19-28 on the season and are 11th in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, the Nets would be on the outside looking in.
Their next game is at Philadelphia against the 76ers on February 3.
