The Nets played their final preseason game Friday at Minnesota, and now the regular season opener is around the corner.
The Nets played their final preseason game Friday at Minnesota, and now the regular season opener is around the corner, Wednesday against the Pelicans at Barclays Center.
Coming off a 112-102 victory over the towering Timberwolves, here are some observations from camp and the preseason. Durant requested a trade over the summer, then doubled down and asked to get coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks fired. His biggest complaint throughout the disappointing 2021-22 season, problems that came to light when they struggled to a 5-16 record during Durant’s absence with an MCL injury.
Durant, Joe Harris, and even Kyrie Irving to an extent, all admitted the Nets had developed a bad habit of taking things for granted, getting caught looking past the present with an eye toward a postseason run they failed to make. But there were Durant, Irving and Ben Simmons all playing — and playing hard — Friday in the preseason-closing victory.
“I think you could feel us improving, turning a little bit of a corner,” Nash said after Friday’s finale. “I feel really good about the group’s energy right now. They’re playing hard, they’re playing together.”at the cost of James Harden, but missed all of last season with mental-health issues and a bad back. Both seem to be in the rear-view. Simmons has had an impact on the Nets’ heretofore sieve-like defense, not shocking for a former Defensive Player of the Year runner-up.
Against the Bucks on Wednesday, the Nets eschewed switches to keep Simmons on Giannis Antetokounmpo, and he held the Milwaukee star to 6-for-21 shooting. On Friday, Simmons started on Karl-Anthony Towns. Granted, Simmons fouled out in 13 minutes, but the intent was clear. Not only haven’t there been any Draymond Green-Jordan Poole style blowups, both Marks and Nash have downplayed the fact Durant tried to get them fired.
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