The Nets have been too bad lately, having previously topped the Eastern Conference, but in the last 20 games, the Nets have only finished 7-13, with the team currently suffering a wave of 6 consecutive losses and a recent downturn, which has also caused the Nets to slip from the top of the Eastern Conference to the current 6th place in the East. At this stage, the Nets are only 1.5 wins ahead of the Hornets, who are no longer in the East, and if they do not end the losing streak, the Nets are likely to fall into the playoff zone.
Many fans may say that the main reason for the nets' sharp decline in performance is Durant's injury, indeed, after Durant's injury, the team's record has indeed declined, the team lacks a stable offensive strong point, they play more passively in the game, the team lacks vitality and energy, and the overall performance is not good. At critical moments, no player was able to step up and take over the team's offense, and Durant was injured and absent, which did have a lot of impact on the team's record. However, in the author's opinion, Durant's injury absence is not the main reason for the nets' record to decline sharply, and the Nets currently have many deficiencies and problems that need to be solved.
First of all, the Nets' overall state in recent times has been very unsatisfactory, and the players have not worked hard enough on the court, whether on the offensive end or on the defensive end, they have not played aggressively enough. On the defensive end, the team often has low-level missing mistakes, the team's inner defense is also easy to let the opponent complete the score in the paint, and the defensive intensity of the outside team is not enough, and the players are always slow. On the offensive end, their running position is not active enough, only looking forward to the core players to complete the individual singles, and then the other four players watch from the side, will not take the initiative to do no-ball cover to block and dismantle, and then look for opportunities to shoot in the empty position. Compared to other teams, the Nets are not energetic and hard enough, and this situation has already occurred for the Nets when Durant is not injured, and the team has lost many games.
The second is the problem of the head coach, the Nets' recent poor record, the ranking has fallen sharply, Nash needs to bear a certain responsibility. His on-the-spot adaptability is not good, nash rarely requests a timeout when the opponent plays a wave of high-quality counter-attacks, and after the suspension is over, the effect is not very good, and it is impossible to limit the opponent's counterattack. In addition, the team is too monotonous in terms of offensive arrangement, relying more on core players to single, and other players do not participate in the attack more often. In the final moments of the game, Nash did not have a lineup that clearly ended the game, and the players had to adapt to the players of different lineups at the critical moments. Nash's lack of coaching also led to the Nets' unsatisfactory record.
Finally, and most critically, that is, the play of the core players, durant although injured and absent, but the Nets also have all-star players Harden and Irving, the team lineup is not bad. And their recent consecutive losses, harden and Irving's sluggish play is the key to it. The chemistry of these two players in the game is not good, rarely at the same time on the court to usher in an outbreak, in the game against the Kings, Harden only scored 4 points on 2 of 11, and there were 6 turnovers, while Irving scored 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting, as the absolute core of the team, the two players joined forces to get only 18 points, such a performance is difficult to help the team win. The team's recent poor performance, Irving and Harden have not played their true level, which is a very key factor.
Now this Nets team, there are many deficiencies, although the team lineup is luxurious, but lack of vitality and motivation, while head coach Nash can not use the lineup flexibly, coupled with the sluggish performance of Irving and Harden, which also led to the Nets' current record slipped to 6th in the East. If the Nets can't make adjustments in subsequent games, and the team still plays so lifelessly, then their prospects for the championship this season are not optimistic.