NEW YORK — If you’d tuned out all Nets news in mid-July, and finally tuned back in late Wednesday, in time to catch the final minutes of their season opener, you might reasonably have concluded that the much-hyped Nets-pocalypse had indeed occurred.
The scoreboard showed a 19-point deficit to the Pelicans. Kevin Durant was not on the floor. Nor were Kyrie Irving or Ben Simmons, their places filled by Cam Thomas, Yuta Watanabe and Edmond Sumner. It was as if the Nets had indeed suffered the summer implosion that everyone expected in the wake of Durant’s trade demand.
But they are all in fact still here, all in uniform Wednesday and all participants in a fairly ghastly 130-108 blowout loss. Whether their presence makes the Nets’ season-opening pratfall more alarming or less so is an eye-of-the-beholder thing.
NBA bylaws and the Geneva conventions require us to stipulate, as soon as possible, that this was just one game and not necessarily indicative of the 81 games to come. But this surely wasn’t what anyone had in mind when the Nets acquired Simmons last February, or when Irving exercised his option in July, or when team officials persuaded Durant to stay in August.
The debut of the Nets’ new Big 3 was, to put it lightly, a dud. Durant was typically brilliant, scoring 32 points. But Irving was out of synch (missing 13 of his 19 shots), and Simmons hardly registered at all, finishing with more fouls (six) than points (four) or rebounds (five) or assists (five).
There was no rhythm to the Nets’ offense, no palpable chemistry among their stars, and no clear plan for repelling the Pelicans’ own trio of stars. Zion Williamson attacked the rim at will, repeatedly, for 25 points, while Brandon Ingram (28 points) and C.J. McCollum (21 points) took turns strafing the Nets from everywhere else.
Nets coach Steve Nash called it a “clunky” effort—“like we’re maybe overly excited or tense to start a new season”—which seems plausible enough, but not exactly the mark of a veteran-laden team with championship aspirations. You could say it was Simmons’ first game in 18 months and his first official game with Durant and Irving, but the same was true for Williamson, who was playing his first game since the spring of 2021, with an almost entirely new Pelicans roster.
“I’m upset that we lost,” Irving said, “but I’m also glad that we got tested tonight by a great team, because we need these. It’s not time to put our heads down or anything like that. We have to show a strong resolve and so show strong faces and not be swayed so much by our home crowd getting antsy because we were definitely very antsy tonight.”
You might fairly point out that the Nets were missing their two best three-point shooters, Joe Harris and Seth Curry, who are working their way back from injuries. Brooklyn’s offense will surely look more fluid with better shooting and spacing, and both Harris and Curry are willing ball-movers and playmakers.
Still, for the antsy fans at Barclays Center on Wednesday, it all probably looked way too familiar. The last time the Nets were on this court, last spring, they were getting swept by the Celtics while Durant and Irving took turns shooting tough jumpers amid a stale offense. Simmons’ presence and elite passing may yet change that, but that may take some time.
“A focus that I need to have every game,” Simmons said of his playmaking duties. “I understand and accept that responsibility for this team. It’s not going to happen overnight. But, you know, gradually building towards that.” He chalked up his own lackluster performance to being “too excited” and “a lot of jitters.”
But some of the Nets’ frailties cannot be so easily dismissed, or remedied. They’re a team lacking in size and strength on the front line, and that showed up in every part of the box score Wednesday night—in the rebounding (where the Pelicans had a 61-39 advantage), in the paint scoring (62-46) and in second-chance points (36-4). They won’t face a brawny tandem like Williamson and Jonas Valančiūnas every night, but it’s not a great sign for dealing with the Sixers’ Joel Embiid or the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, either.
Another early season article of faith: It can take 15 to 20 games for a team to get a firm sense of its identity or its true potential. There’s ample reason to believe Simmons will settle in, that Irving will find his usual rhythm, that the Nets’ three stars will get in synch, that Harris and Curry will get healthy and that this team will, eventually, live up to its marquee power and expectations.
But it’s also entirely conceivable they don’t. And while a strong first month could quiet all the doubts and drama of the summer, a rocky first month might just bring it all back.
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