NBA
Brooklyn Are In Better Shape This Season To Sustain Momentum Without Kevin Durant
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated11 Jan 2023
The Brooklyn Nets have hit their groove this season as they’ve won 18 of their last 20 games. On top of that, they are only 1.5 games behind the first place Boston Celtics in the East. Last season the Nets lost Kevin Durant for an extended period of time and it derailed the season completely. General Manager Sean Marks made some key moves in the offseason and that is why Brooklyn are in better shape this time around without Durant on the floor.
Kevin Durant had an MRI on Monday and tests revealed that he has a sprained MCL and will be out for at least a month. That should take us right into the all-star break with Durant likely to make his return after that if all goes well.
New York Sports Betting sites have the Nets at (+800) to win the Finals this season.
“The Nets are gonna be hopeful that he’s gonna be able to make it back sooner rather than later…”@ShamsCharania on Kevin Durant’s knee injury#RunItBack | https://t.co/Q9hUtUoPZJ pic.twitter.com/drUFCq8v53
— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) January 9, 2023
Brooklyn are in better shape this season to have KD miss some time
The Brooklyn Nets had Kevin Durant suffer an eerily similar injury last season that derailed all the momentum the Nets were having. Their season never truly recovered after that and the Nets barley made the playoffs before they were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first-round.
This season is different for the Nets. They finally have those key role players and pieces that are ready and willing to make a bigger impact. Offseason signing like Royce O’Neal, Edmond Sumner, Markieff Morris, Yuta Watanabe, and TJ Warren have all made a big impact on Brooklyn’s season in different ways.
Brooklyn are also in a better position this season with their head coach and that can make a serious impact. Steve Nash was fired early in the beginning of the season and Jacque Vaughn changed the team after Nash’s departure. The Nets bought into his system and he simplified the game for Brooklyn. They are 23-7 this season with Vaughn at the top and had a 12-game win streak in that time as well.
More notable players on the team like Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, and Nic Claxton may have to shoulder more of a workload while Durant is out. Irving was in and out of the lineup last season and he’ll surely return the favor for the agony he put the Nets through last season. Irving will be seeing a few more shots per game with Durant out. Simmons and Claxton will both need to make an impact on the boards and defensively for the Nets if they want to sustain the success they had while fully healthy.
