NBA
Kyrie Irving Shuts Down Narrative That The Nets Will Struggle Again 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 WolpinUpdated16 Jan 2023
Last night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was the Nets first time losing back-to-back games since mid November. Both losses have come without Kevin Durant who injured his MCL vs the Miami Heat on 1/8. After the game, reporters asked Kyrie Irving if he thinks the Nets will struggle this season like they did last year without Durant. Irving was quick to shut down that narrative and said that will not happen to the Nets.
Durant missed 21 games in a row for the Nets last season where the team went 5-16 while he was out and had an 11-game losing streak in that time as well. Luckily for Brooklyn, they’ve upgraded the roster this season and have a few more key pieces that can help contribute to the teams success without KD.
New York Sports Betting sites have the Nets at (+800) to win the Finals this season.
Final from Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/EMsVTbKldJ
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 16, 2023
Kyrie Irving says the Nets will not struggle this season without Kevin Durant
Before he went down with the injury, Durant was averaging (29.7) points per game for Brooklyn and it’s not easy to replace that kind of production. Multiple players will have to step up an contribute to replace the offensive output that Durant gave the Nets. After the game last night, reporters asked Kyrie Irving if he thinks the Nets will struggle this season like they did last year while Durant missed the 21 straight game. This was his response.
“t was all glory, glory when we were winning game after game and now we’re answering questions about potentially struggling. I don’t think we’re gonna struggle with Kevin out, that’s not my belief. I know guys in the locker room don’t believe that,”… “This isn’t last year at all.” – Kyrie Irving
Brooklyn’s rotation last season was nothing close to what the Nets have this year. The Nets best players while Durant was out were Patty Mills, Cam Thomas, and Blake Griffin. This season they have T.J. Warren, Royce O’Neal, Yuta Watanabe, and Seth Curry who are all more than capable of providing solid offensive performances.
Another reason the Nets had the 11-game losing streak in that time was because Irving was a part-time player last season, but those issues have since resolved themselves. Brooklyn’s next game is Tuesday vs the San Antonio Spurs on the road.
