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After the shot clock expired Tuesday night, cementing another disappointing game for the Brooklyn Nets, coach Steve Nash begged his players to look inside and ask themselves “what kind of team do they want to be” .
“I don’t think we go out every day of our lives and sacrifice time to be average at anything,” Kyrie Irving said after Brooklyn’s third straight loss. “And we look very average. And we have the talent that the sight test presents that we should dominate.”
Brooklyn has developed a trend this season of playing incredibly hard – and often beating – teams to the top of the rankings, but losing to the bottom of the league. In fact, with the 122-111 loss to Detroit on Tuesday, the Nets are now 7-11 against teams with a less than .500 record – the most losing streak in the league.
Jerami Grant tied his career with 32 points for the Pistons. Irving, who played with a sprained index finger, finished with 27 points and seven assists. James Harden added 24 points and 12 assists.
Brooklyn remains without Kevin Durant, who is part of the NBA’s coronavirus contact tracing protocols until at least Friday after being exposed to a team employee who tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
Detroit took a double-digit lead and controlled the game for almost every 48 minutes. During a timeout in the first quarter, Harden appeared to be having a heated conversation with DeAndre Jordan about the team’s defensive effort. During the match, Nash dismissed Jordan on several occasions.
“I don’t think they’re necessarily going after him,” Nash said. “It’s an emotional sport. We find ourselves in the hole and we get a little emotional.”
Jordan, who said he can’t remember what Harden specifically said, admitted he needs to be better overall defensively.
“I have to be better for us defensively,” Jordan said. “We all have to be better. But I’m just taking a little more control over that end of the ball because it’s something I love and that’s a big part of why I think I’m there for us. we ‘I have to be better, but I’m taking a lot. “
Since the Nets traded to James Harden in mid-January, they rank last in defensive efficiency, according to ESPN Stats & Information. And while the Nets were able to reduce the Pistons’ lead to single digits, they were never able to get over the bump.
“A lot of teams are very comfortable against us,” said Irving. “And then it’s kind of the feeling for the rest of the game, is that we’re playing catch-up and that’s just not the way to play as a competitor just always down.”
“We just have to turn this corner. And we haven’t yet, but we will. And I’m telling you the league will be notified when that happens.”
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