{"id":8643,"date":"2023-01-18T08:13:02","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T08:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/inside-the-brooklyn-nets-struggle-without-kevin-durant-this-wasnt-last-year\/"},"modified":"2023-01-18T08:13:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T08:13:02","slug":"inside-the-brooklyn-nets-struggle-without-kevin-durant-this-wasnt-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/inside-the-brooklyn-nets-struggle-without-kevin-durant-this-wasnt-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Brooklyn Nets struggle without Kevin Durant: &#8216;This wasn&#8217;t last year&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div><!-- tml-version=\"2\" --><\/p>\n<p>The Brooklyn Nets (27-16) entered the new year as the hottest team in the NBA. Just nine days later, the Nets probably learned he would be without a cornerstone for a month. After surviving a tough mid-season, the team is confident they can survive this time without Kevin Durant (MCL sprain). <\/p>\n<p>After losing three straight to the 14th-seeded San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night, Brooklyn dropped to the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference standings. More importantly, the Nets have been without a win since their biggest gun went down (except for the contest in which Durant was injured). <\/p>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-b not-size-c not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-0\"\/>\n<p>The team insists a three-game losing streak hasn&#8217;t sapped their confidence like it did last season when Durant went down with an MCL sprain. Most importantly, the group knows everyone is in it together. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Last year was kind of a toxic environment,&#8221; Nick Claxton, a fourth-year big man, told reporters after the game. did not. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This year there will be no chasm between everyone out there. We&#8217;re going to figure it out. We&#8217;ve got to figure out how to play each other without KD. [Irving] on the court. It&#8217;s a different lineup. But we get it.  &#8221; <\/p>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-b not-size-c not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-1\"\/>\n<p>Durant sat out last season with an MCL sprain, but the team slowly began to fall apart. The Nets went 5-16 with his injury absence, and the Eastern fell from the second seed in his conference standings to a play-in in his bracket (the eighth seed). In that troubled span, Brooklyn did not have Kyrie Irving as a full-time player due to vaccination denials and New York City vaccination mandates. <\/p>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-a not-size-b not-size-c\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-0\"\/>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-a not-size-b not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-0\"\/>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-a not-size-c not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-0\"\/>\n<p>Aside from dropping to the No. 8 seed, disgruntled superstar James Harden has moved down Interstate 95 to the Philadelphia 76ers via February&#8217;s blockbuster NBA trade deadline deal. I headed <\/p>\n<section class=\"m-in-content-recommendation m-detail--in-content-recommendation h-isolated-styles mm-component-stack--is-body-item\">\n<p><span>scroll to continue<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>For Nets head coach Jack Vaughan, what happened last year remains completely in the past. During that time, he was the team&#8217;s lead assistant under former head coach Steve Nash. Instead, he laid out the key points he conveyed to his players following the disappointing loss Tuesday night at his AT&#038;T Center. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Three things I said to our group [is] Very professional, consistent, that&#8217;s your approach, that&#8217;s your mindset, and there&#8217;s no excuses,&#8221; Vaughan said. Not looking for excuses. That&#8217;s exactly who we are. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t care about last year. Now is important. [This] It was the most important game. Now trying to reload and prepare for Phoenix. I&#8217;m not going to give them a chance to make excuses.  &#8221; <\/p>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-b not-size-c not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-2\"\/>\n<p>Irving, who was delayed out of Tuesday&#8217;s loss because of a sore right calf, echoed Claxton&#8217;s remarks in his post-game comments to San Antonio reporters. He emphasized that he didn&#8217;t want to hear comparisons to Brooklyn&#8217;s disastrous stretch unless it carried over to the struggle of the <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m consistently in the lineup, and that helps,&#8221; Irving told reporters on set after the game in San Antonio. focuses primarily on the big picture. <\/p>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-a not-size-b not-size-c\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-1\"\/>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-a not-size-b not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-1\"\/>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-a not-size-c not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-1\"\/>\n<p>&#8220;Last week it was glory and glory winning every game, but now I&#8217;m answering questions about potential struggles. I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m going to struggle without Kevin now. That&#8217;s not my belief I know all of you.It&#8217;s unbelievable in the locker room.This wasn&#8217;t last year.So we have to stop comparing.<\/p>\n<p>Brooklyn is currently the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference standings after losing to San Antonio. The team is tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the fifth seed and half a game behind the Sixers for the third seed.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/__i\/rss\/rd\/articles\/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNpLmNvbS9uYmEvbmV0cy9uZXdzL2luc2lkZS10aGUtbmV0cy1zdHJ1Z2dsZXMtd2l0aG91dC1rZXZpbi1kdXJhbnQtdGhpcy1pc250LWxhc3QteWVhci1hdC1hbGzSAW9odHRwczovL3d3dy5zaS5jb20vbmJhL25ldHMvLmFtcC9uZXdzL2luc2lkZS10aGUtbmV0cy1zdHJ1Z2dsZXMtd2l0aG91dC1rZXZpbi1kdXJhbnQtdGhpcy1pc250LWxhc3QteWVhci1hdC1hbGw?oc=5\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] The Brooklyn Nets (27-16) entered the new year as the hottest team in the NBA. Just nine days later, the Nets probably learned he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","two-columns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/usatsi_19809218.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atswins.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}