The Brooklyn Nets dropped two games in a row to the Cleveland Cavaliers this week. While the Cavaliers are much-improved and are firmly in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference at this early juncture, the losses mean the Nets fell in their first two games since Kyrie Irving returned from his hiatus to play alongside Kevin Durant (who, in fairness, missed the second game) and new teammate James Harden.
Because of how hyper-reactive basketball punditry can be, it’s led to some very preliminary questions about this group, particularly its ability to defend near the rim due to the fact that Brooklyn parted with Jarrett Allen in the Harden trade and their big man depth chart is not particularly robust, something that was firmly on display as Allen and the Cavaliers thrashed them in the paint.
The Nets have allowed 134 points in the paint over their last 2 games (both against Cleveland).
That is their most allowed in any 2-game span over the last 25 seasons. (64 in Wednesday's game, 70 tonight), per @ESPNStatsInfo.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) January 23, 2021
On Saturday morning, Irving appeared to respond to all of this on his Instagram account, reminding fans that the team is in the midst of a “long journey” and that he is confident that the Nets “will be on that stage” where “‘the best of the best’ meet.”
Kyrie isn’t worried about back-to-back losses for the Nets. pic.twitter.com/oo1Nf8SXZG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 23, 2021
While there are some pretty obvious concerns about the Nets — namely their ability to protect the paint, the depth on their roster in the aftermath of the Harden trade, and their defense — Irving is right that they have plenty of time to get things all figured out. More importantly, the trio of superstars that they have is as impressive a collection of talent as we’ve seen since Durant’s Warriors squads, and even if they need to figure out how to play with one another, it’s very much a “marathon, not a sprint” situation.
