ATLANTA — Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant scored a career-high 55 factors that included a career-high eight 3-pointers on Saturday night time — however these weren’t the numbers he was centered on after a disappointing 122-115 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Durant stated he was pissed off that his group was “undisciplined” defensively, and he could not recover from the truth that Brooklyn allowed the Hawks to go to the free throw line 49 occasions in contrast with simply 19 makes an attempt for the Nets.
“We’re fouling early,” Durant stated. “We put them in the bonus early every quarter; 37-14 [difference in] free throw makes. And it’s not ’cause of the refs, it was because we’re reaching and being undisciplined and just playing too aggressive. That’s the game. They shot 42% from the field which is great defense, 31[%] from the 3. They outrebounded us by two, and one more assist than us … it’s just fouls. And we can’t do that if we want to be a winning team.”
With the loss, the 40-38 Nets slid into tenth place within the Japanese Convention with simply 4 regular-season video games remaining. On an evening when they need to have been celebrating Durant’s brilliance — particularly provided that the Nets were playing without Goran Dragic (health and safety protocols), Bruce Brown (non-COVID illness) and Seth Curry (sprained left ankle) — the Nets had been left to lament the actual fact they could not present the help to shut an essential recreation over a group that simply jumped them within the standings.
“It doesn’t even feel like he had 55 tonight,” Nets guard Kyrie Irving stated. “You know what I mean? Just the way that we feel about the game afterwards.”
For his half, Durant — who completed the night time 19-for-28 from the sphere, 8-for-10 from past the arc, 9-for-11 from the foul line and added seven rebounds and three assists in 42 minutes — stated this specific loss wasn’t any extra disappointing given his profession night time.
“Every loss is deflating,” Durant stated. “I ain’t even worried about that, I’m just mad at the loss. I’m glad I shot the ball well. Made eight 3s, a career high, but I wish we would have came out with a W just by doing the little stuff. My points are going to come, my shots are going to come, but the little stuff that we got to do, we got to be on the same page with.”
Like a lot of his teammates, Irving struggled to discover a rhythm on both finish of the ground. He completed simply 12-for-32 from the sphere and took “full accountability” for needing to do a greater job defensively within the publish and “play without fouling.” On prime of the defensive points, Irving was upset that he and the remainder of the Nets could not do extra to assist Durant on offense.
“We just have to ease his burden on the offensive end,” Irving stated. “He’s going to be Kevin Durant. We know who he is. We know what he’s capable of, but we have to be there to support him. And we have to be there ready to play just as much as he is and not allow frustration seep in at all.”
Regardless of the loss, each Durant and Irving stay satisfied that the Nets can nonetheless get again on monitor earlier than the play-in match begins in lower than two weeks.
“I can’t come in here acting like I’m losing confidence,” Durant stated. “We lost some games and we’re going to keep playing until it’s over. That’s how I feel.”
Irving echoed an identical sentiment.
“This is just a metaphor, you go home, you get your bulletproof vest, you go get your handgun, you go get your rocket launcher, you go get your AK. You load up everything,” Irving stated. “You load up all the ammo. This is just a metaphor, people. But you go home, you get ready for war and you don’t just live with the results, but you go out there with a mental focus and a no fear attitude, and you really play for each other and that’s what it comes down to. We don’t have any time to waste.”
What the Nets wasted Saturday was an all-time Durant efficiency in a profession that has been filled with Corridor of Fame-worthy highlights. They could not benefit from the excessive of his private achievement as a result of the low was so low.
“We didn’t play a good ballgame,” Nets coach Steve Nash stated. “I can’t really sugarcoat it.”
