Let’s pump the brakes, Brooklyn. Yes, Kyrie has scored a billion points in the Nets’ two postseason games and he’s basically Dumbledore with a ball in his hands. With or without Kyrie, you’re not winning the NBA championship.
The Brooklyn Nets have been the talk of the NBA over the last two seasons. Can we just acknowledge how ridiculous it is to name a basketball team the “Nets”? That’d be like naming a football team the “Goalposts” or a baseball team the “Trash Cans” (I had to). That first season saw massive in-season trades to acquire Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, and most notably, James Harden. Expectations were championship or bust for this top-heavy Brooklyn team under first-year head coach Steve Nash.
Well, they busted. Brooklyn succumbed to injuries (as their stars are prone to do), and lost in the second round of the playoffs to eventual champion, Milwaukee, in a 7-game series that forced Durant to be Superman with a crippled roster around him.
This season has brought more tumult. Durant missed 21 games with an MCL sprain, Harden was traded mid-season to Philadelphia (they received former all-star Ben Simmons in the trade, but he’s not been much help), and Kyrie famously refused the COVID-19 vaccine, despite New York law that mandated all private employees to be vaccinated to work in the state [1] [2]. Thus, the Nets originally decided to play on without Irving, before reneging and allowing their star point guard to return to the team; but only for road games, as the New York law stood.
On March 24, NYC’s mayor changed the law to allow athletes and performers to go unvaccinated, allowing the unvaccinated Irving to play all games (away and home). With this new tweak in the law, the Nets once again have championship aspirations, despite finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference, since their two-headed monster in Durant and Irving are going to play alongside one another every night.
Ever since Kyrie was “reinstated'', there has been considerable talk that the Nets should now be the favorites to win the Eastern Conference and even win the NBA Finals. Let’s hold on for a minute. In the 29 regular-season games that Irving played, the Goalposts are just 14-15 (30-23 without him); however in games where Durant and Irving have played together they’re 11-6. As would be expected, Brooklyn’s offense has improved with Irving, scoring 118.3 points per game, while only averaging 109.9 without him. If you’ve watched Kyrie Irving over the years, you know he doesn’t play much defense. So it’s not too surprising to note that Brooklyn surrenders 115.9 points per game with him (the Timberwolves led the league in scoring with 115.9 per game), compared to just 110.0 without him [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]. With Kyrie’s offensive firepower, you’re going to play at a faster pace and score more points, but will also allow more because the dude can’t stop anybody. Now, just because their win percentage is worse with him than without, and they surrender a ton of points doesn’t mean they’re a worse team with him on the floor. It’s clear that they’re better off with him and KD in the lineup together, and in the postseason two all-time greats on one team is going to be a tough out.
An understated aspect of NBA postseason success is the chemistry of the team. Working as a collective unit, especially on the defensive end, is paramount to succeeding in May and June. Remember those Miami Heatles teams with LeBron, Wade, Bosh and the boys? Yeah they had incredible talent; you may need two hands to count the number of future Hall of Famers that were a part of that run to four-straight NBA Finals in 2010-14. However, their chemistry and basketball IQ was off the charts. Veterans Shane Battier, Ray Allen, Udonis Haslem and others brought a level of savvy to the court that transcended statistics, while Wade and James’ cohesion and ability to play off each other rubbed off on their teammates, despite being a weird stylistic fit.
What about this Brooklyn team? Not taking anything away from their smarts and ability to play at a high-level, this team lacks collective reps. It’s hard to build chemistry when your roster gets shook up mid season and your best two players play 17 total games together. The biggest chemistry concern has to be Irving’s insertion into the lineup. He just hasn’t been around enough (in practice or games) for them to build a meaningful cohesion at this point. Ben Simmons returning from injury would provide intrigue and bring another layer to the discussion, but given that he hasn’t even practiced fully, let alone compete in a game, with his new teammates, leaves lots of chemistry concerns.
Quite frankly, this is not a championship roster. Outside of Durant and Irving, they’re just old and flimsy. Andre Drummond is over the hill. Goran Dragic is still trying to remake himself after injuries derailed his Miami Heat tenure. Seth Curry and Patty Mills are nice pieces who can make jumpshots, but they don’t move the needle. Previous all-stars Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge don’t even get in the game if matchups aren’t favorable. Yes Durant and Irving have plenty of finals experience (three titles between them), but there are plenty of other great players in the playoffs that won’t be intimidated by the names on the back of #7 and #11’s uniforms. NBA games, playoff series, and the playoffs in general are long, making depth an understated requirement for postseason success. Brooklyn is going to have to get considerable contributions from their aging role players if they’re going to have a shot at going the distance.
Even if the Nets get out of the first round (this Nets/Celtics series is going to be a blast), they’ll likely have to take down the top three teams in the Eastern Conference to get to the Finals, given where they sit on the bracket as the 7 seed. And it’s not like the teams above them in the standings are young upstart squads like Memphis out West. The Celtics, Bucks, Raptors, and Heat have all been there before, and the Sixers are going to be a juggernaut with their newly-formed superduo of James Harden and Joel Embiid. For the first time in forever, the Eastern Conference is stalwart, at the worst possible time for Brooklyn.
Kevin and Kyrie are great. There’s no disputing that. But with what has hindered them all season and what’s in front of them in the postseason, it’s an uphill battle to say the least for this team.
Let’s slow the roll on the Durant + Kyrie = Championship narrative. A first round exit seems more likely at this point.