The Nets suffered another defeat today, with Durant and Harden losing 102-125 away from home to the Jazz without playing Irving. Counting this game, the Nets have suffered seven consecutive losses, and no championship-winning team in the NBA has ever suffered a 7-game losing streak in the regular season. That's not the most troublesome, and the Nets now have to think about their situation. The Nets currently have a 29-23 record of 6th in the East, but the gap with the 7th-place Raptors in the East is only 0.5. In other words, as long as the Nets lose one more game, they will reach the play-off stage. Definitely not good news for the Nets.
The Nets are in big trouble at the moment, and injuries are an important part of the equation. Durant has confirmed his absence from the All-Star Game with no clear comeback timeline. Harden is currently suffering from hamstring injuries, which, although not devastating, have a long impact. Harden's ups and downs this season are directly related to hamstring injuries. Irving is still playing as a part-time player, playing only away and not at home.
Today, Irving realized how uncomfortable it is to lead the team alone, Harden and Durant are not there, only Irving alone to lead the team. Irving faced the Jazz's tight defense result and encountered a bad hand, And Owen conceded a total of 14 goals in 20 shots, and the shooting percentage was 30% low. The Nets quickly collapsed, the interior was blown up by opponents, and the maximum point difference in the game exceeded 30 points at one point. The game went into boring garbage time early. At the end of the game, Irving had a total of 15 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, a plus-minus -29 team-low. Facing the jazz nets of the same strong team, they were beaten to no avail.
Here we mention Irving, who is a great scorer. A player who has proven himself. Without Irving, the Cavaliers would not have won the NBA championship in the summer of 2016. When Irving is mentioned, one thinks of his dazzling dribbling, his amazing offensive skills and his unique personal abilities. The problem is that people have always seen Irving as a scorer, but never as a leader.
Irving's lead results are very bad. So far in his career, Irving has not brought his team to the Stage of the Eastern Conference Finals in a single season. James didn't return to the Cavaliers Before the Cavaliers were a fishy team, even though Irving could play well, he couldn't lead the team into the playoffs. Now that Harden and Durant are gone, Irving's mediocre ability to lead the team has once again shown. Losing to Sir Irving today is going to carry the cauldron.
The Nets' schedule isn't ideal, and on Feb. 7 they're going to play the Nuggets, the strongest western team. Then in the East, there are teams like the Wizards and Heat, considering that the team is currently full of injuries and Irving can't play in the home game. The Nets don't have a high probability of winning. If the Nets continue to lose, suffering 8 consecutive losses, 9 consecutive losses or even 10 consecutive losses, the Nets are likely to fall out of the top 8 in the East. At present, the win gap between the 6th and 9th places in the East is not even 2 games, and the Nets are likely to fall further in the ranking. Now the Nets are not thinking about the championship, but whether they can make the playoffs. The East is so competitive this year, can the Nets appear on the playoff stage as promised? Dear readers, how do you think the Nets have performed in recent times? Feel free to leave a comment in the comments section below the article.