Although the Nets' record has been leading the East for a long time, there are still many doubts about them! On the one hand, because their record contains insufficient gold, they were labeled as soft and afraid of hard, and in the showdowns with the Bucks, Warriors, Bulls, Heat, and Suns, all of them ended in failure.
On the other hand, the Nets' excellent record is due to coach Nash's excessive use of Durant and Harden, which masks some of the team's problems! Harden has averaged 36.2 minutes per game so far this season, ranking No. 5 in the league, he is the team's only organizational guard, most of the team's attacks are initiated by him, Nash as a disciple of D'Antoni, the dependence on Harden is particularly prominent.
Compared with Harden, who takes the combing offense as the main responsibility, Durant has a heavier burden on his shoulders, because he not only has to be the team's main attacker, but also takes into account the defense, protects the basket, and competes for rebounds. So far this season, Durant has averaged 36.5 minutes per game, ranking third in the league and playing the second half at every turn. Durant's average playing time in the last seven games has exceeded 40 minutes per game, and as a player who has broken his Achilles tendon, such a high playing time makes people worry that he will have another major injury.
With Irving's return date undecided and likely to miss the entire season, the Nets may withdraw from the title race once durant and Harden fall.
For example, the Pistons, who are the first-to-last in the East today, played extremely hard, and at the end of the third quarter, they were still five points behind their opponents. This made Durant very dissatisfied, and at the end of the third quarter, KD trained on the bench to arouse the morale of his teammates.
In the final quarter, Durant, who played the third quarter, still did not rest, obviously to play the second half, and the Pistons did not forget the goal of the championship. The Nets played an 11-0 attack wave and finally rebounded and regained the initiative! Durant played 41 minutes and 28 seconds in the game, 16 of 31 shots, 51 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks, breaking the record of 50 points in a single game held by Curry this season!
Playing a fish belly Piston requires Durant to play more than 40 minutes, crazy 31 shots to win the game, which is the Nets' current problem.
The good news is that Nash seems to have finally gotten a little bit of a knack and dared to try to take a break. Nash took a leave of absence from Durant on December 9 against the rebuilding Rockets, and today he took a break from Harden against the Fish belly Pistons, the first time Harden missed a game this season.
In response, Nash said in an interview after the game: "Harden played too long in front of him, we will try to steal a few breaks for these guys in the long season, fortunately Harden is open enough about this." We'll certainly miss Harden, but it's also important to rest properly, hopefully that will pay off at the end of the regular season. ”
Hopefully, Nash can remember what he said today, not to be burdened by the first place in the East, and to tap more into the potential of existing players, rather than blindly relying on Durant and Harden, some games should be abandoned and abandoned, and ensuring the health of players is the primary goal. It's all for the playoffs, and compared to other teams, the record is really not that important for the Nets.