After beating the Spurs in overtime, the Nets went back-to-back to challenge the Blazers on the road, trapped by injuries, and the Blazers were also full of injuries, and Lillard, CJ and Powell were unable to play.
On the other hand, the Nets, Harden also missed the game due to a knee injury, but fortunately, in the road matchup, Irving can return to the game and lead the team with Durant.
As a result, Irving's return did not help the Nets maintain their momentum, and the team fell into passivity at the beginning of the game, and finally lost to the Blazers 108-114.
This game is a good example of the Nets' situation this season, and Nash's strategy at the helm, that is, "star tactics".
Whether it is offense or defense, it is completely impossible to see that the Nets are a whole, completely dependent on Durant and Irving on the offensive end, this round Durant singles, the next round Irving singles, and then Durant singles again.
This made the Nets hold a good deck of cards, but it was defeated by the Blazers, who lacked three cores, and in the face of such a loss, Nash found a new excuse after the game, and did not forget to draw a pie for Durant, while revealing Irving's injury.
Asked after the game why the team lost the game, Nash said it was a back-to-back game, plus overtime against the Spurs in the last game, leaving the players exhausted.
Even so, the team dragged the game into the final moments, and it was clear that they all wanted to win the game and they were proud of them.
When asked about the performance of the rookies, Nash admitted that the performance of several rookies was very good, they grew a lot, and all the rookies made positive contributions.
Nash is right that back-to-back games do bring fatigue to players, but the problem is that the Blazers are also back-to-back, and the Blazers are missing three core players, and the overall rotation depth is far less than that of the Nets.
As a result, Nash was not even willing to give Brown and Millsap even a few minutes of playing time when the team was understaffed and the players on the court were tired.
When Durant's physical fitness dropped seriously and his personal condition was not good, he was not willing to let the previous surprise soldier James Johnson have more than a few minutes, so he used Durant for 42 minutes, plus the last game, Durant played back-to-back for 85 minutes.
The decline in physical fitness and the decline in status brought about by the long playing time is predictable, which is a physical function that no professional player can reverse.
In the whole game, Durant shot 9-of-19 and had 28 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, but the plus-minus was only minus 15.
The decline in Durant's state has also been criticized by some fans after the game, but the fact is that since the beginning of the game, Irving has been absent, Harden's state has fluctuated, and only Durant is struggling to support Nash's star play.
In the past 10 games, Durant can be described as a father and a mother, averaging 33.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.
Unfortunately, with Irving going in and out, as well as Harden's absence, the Nets' record during this period was very bad.
In the past 7 games, the Nets have lost 5 games, and the problems exposed during the period are very obvious, Nash is only willing to trust Durant, and even unwilling to assign more offensive rights to the giant Harden.
Therefore, after the game, Nash was also asked about Durant's playing time, and Nash directly drew a pie for Durant, saying that he would find time to let Durant rest in the future.
At the same time, he explained that Durant's long time in the game is because from the perspective of the game, it is difficult to let Durant rest, he also wants to play, and Durant is expected to play in the next game.
In addition, Nash also revealed Irving's injury (he was knocked down by Little behind him in a scramble), Nash said that Irving is only slightly sprained, and he will slowly improve Irving's playing time and will not suddenly let him play for a long time.